ICARDA News

INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH IN THE DRY AREAS
P.O. Box 5466, Aleppo, Syria
Phone: (963-21) 2213433, 2213477, 2225112, 2225012
Fax: (963-21) 2213490, 2225105; E-mail: ICARDA@CGIAR.ORG
Website: http://www.icarda.cgiar.org

30 October 2003
For more information contact:
Prof. Patrick Brown p.brown@cgiar.org
UC Davis Report Sees Opportunities,
Challenges for Afghan Horticulture

A survey conducted by the University of California, Davis, has found agricultural trade opportunities for Afghanistan and points the way to a viable and market-oriented horticultural sector in the country.
     In 1976, horticulture was the single largest contributor to Afghan exports, comprising 40% of total export earnings. Today, it is an important part of a strategy to rebuild the country, which is struggling to rebound from more than two decades of war and five years of drought that left a devastated economy and vast deterioration in infrastructure, industrial facilities, irrigation systems, and orchards and other agricultural land.
     The UC survey, conducted as part of the work of the ICARDA-led Future Harvest Consortium to Rebuild Agriculture in Afghanistan, funded by USAID, determined that the most promising crops for both internal and export income generation are: dried apricots, cumin, pine nuts, pomegranate, raisins, dried figs, grapes, and melons. Despite Afghanistan's long absence in the international horticulture market, the finding coincides with several crops that historically led exports: grapes, pomegranate, melons, and raisins.
     The study also evaluated the most critical constraints to production. They include lack of applied research capacity, diminished irrigation availability and distribution, poor input usage and production practices, limited enterprise management, and lack of field extension capacity, institutions and agencies.
     The key constraints to market profitability and long term sustainability include: poor product quality, lack of post-harvest infrastructure, absence of marketing organizations, limited access to markets, commercial and financial limitations, and non-uniformity of weights and measures.
     "The increasing global demand for quality products and unique attributes acts as a double-edge sword for Afghan horticulture," the survey report states. "While on the one hand it opens the door to potential markets, on the other hand it severely punishes its lack of quality due to poor production practices and post-harvest handling.
     "[However,] most traders, both exporters and importers, agree that given proper product processing, Afghan crops such as raisins and dried apricots possess sufficient differentiation in their inherent attributes to attract new markets and draw premium prices."
     On the domestic front, Afghanistan is not yet self-sufficient in food, and, although the variety of crops produced generally satisfies the market needs, there is


Fruit vendors vie for position in Kabul.

Afghanistan enjoys a rich diversity of
horticultural crops

Consortium agriculturists and partners compare notes
about nursery plantings and test plots at a refurbished
research station
unmet domestic demand in terms of volume of basic vegetable commodities, such as potatoes, onions, carrots and tomatoes.
     "Undoubtedly, increased production of these crops will help satisfy this demand. However, we cannot ignore the fact that this is aggravated by the lack of post-harvest and storage facilities. This leads to market inefficiencies, poor distribution and the need to import (often re-import domestically grown products) in order to meet off-season demand," the report says.
     The study's authors recommend investment in the following: 1) development of research capabilities to support horticulture, 2) extension services to effectively diagnose plant problems in the field, 3) establishment of production and marketing centers for technical assistance, 4) creation of marketing organizations to facilitate the education and training of farmers, and 5) the building of cold storage, packing and processing infrastructure.
     Horticulture could soon become, once again, an engine for growth for the Afghan economy.

ICARDA's (www.icarda.org) mission is to improve the welfare of people and alleviate poverty through research and training in dry areas of the developing world by increasing production, productivity, and nutritional quality of food, while preserving and enhancing the natural resource base. ICARDA is a Future Harvest Center.

The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) (www.cgiar.org) is a strategic alliance of 62 members and 16 Future Harvest Centers that mobilizes cutting-edge science to promote sustainable development by reducing hunger and poverty, improving human nutrition and health, and protecting the environment

The Future Harvest Consortium to Rebuild Agriculture in Afghanistan is a multi-partner effort led by the International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA) and funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). More information on the Future Harvest Consortium to Rebuild Agriculture in Afghanistan can be found at: www.futureharvest.org

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is the government agency providing U.S. economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide for more than 40 years (www.USAID.gov).

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