Afghan farmers are victims

Opinion: June 14, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

By Maiwand Safi

The Institute for War & Peace Reporting

KABUL, Afghanistan

A measure intended to make it more difficult for insurgents to manufacture roadside bombs has instead stunted the growth of Afghanistan’s critical agricultural sector, according to local farmers.

Last year, President Hamid Karzai banned the import and sale of ammonium nitrate, a chemical fertilizer that is also a key bomb-making ingredient. But farmers in the eastern province of Kapisa complain that their harvests have dramatically declined since the fertilizer is no longer available.

“When I was using ammonium nitrate, I was selling 1,000 pounds of dried prunes a year,” said Nur Agha, a farmer in the village of Adazi. “Last year, after the fertilizer was banned, I harvested just 150 pounds of plums.” Like many other Afghans, he was quick to see an international conspiracy behind the decline, claiming that the coalition government involved in fighting the Taliban “wants us to lose our livelihoods.”

Farming is a key segment of the Afghan economy, with eight out of 10 people involved in either growing crops or animal husbandry. Even in the best of times, farming in this country is a difficult occupation, with many lucky if they can eke out subsistence living.

No reasonable alternative

Another local grower, who asked that his name not be used due to fear of reprisals by local officials, said the plum trees in his orchard were failing. He compared the decision to ban the use of fertilizers to the ban on growing opium — a good idea that failed because the government failed to provide a reasonable alternative.

“We’re fed up with orders from the government,” he said. “One day, they tell us not to grow poppy because it’s harmful to their foreign friends. The next, they tell us not to use (fertilizer), again because it harms their foreign friends.

”Promises of assistance haven’t been delivered on. ... I am left with an orchard that isn’t productive because there’s no ammonium nitrate since the government ban, and there is no alternative fertilizer,“ he said.

Grain producers face a similar dilemma.

”When the wheat starts growing ears, the foliage turns yellow. The ears are mostly empty, as well,“ Kapisa resident Sayed Ajan said. ”I used to harvest 11 tons of wheat a year and sell it on, but I only got four tons last year.“

Exports of dried fruits to South Asia are a major revenue source for Afghanistan. Ikram, a merchant involved in the trade in Tagab, said he managed to dispatch just over one ton of dried prunes to India last year, compared with the three tons he usually exports. He said the lower production resulted not only in limited supply but also in higher prices for wholesale buyers like him.

“When quantities are low, our costs go up. ... Right now we aren’t making much of a profit,“ he said.

Local farmers say they have appealed to both the provincial and national government without effect.

No discernible effect

Abdul Ghias, the head of the provincial agriculture department, insisted that the ban on ammonium nitrate has had no discernible effect on crop yields.

“As far as I can see, the absence of this fertilizer has had no impact on product quantities,“ he said. ”I disagree with the claims the farmers are making. It may be that pests have reduced their productivity.”

The issue is simple enough for Ghias. ”The use of ammonium nitrate has been prohibited and we have to implement these orders,“ he said.

For angry local farmers, however, it’s just another reason to be angry with the current government and its foreign supporters.

Maiwand Safi is a reporter in Afghanistan who writes for The Institute for War & Peace Reporting, a nonprofit organization that trains journalists in areas of conflict. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.