As harrowing accounts continue to emerge of the Taliban’s reign of terror in Afghanistan, all indications are that agriculture, which makes up around half of the country’s economic activity, might be halted.
This, after the government collapsed and the embattled president joined a mass exodus of his fellow citizens and foreigners. AP reports that this signals the end of a costly two-decade United States campaign to remake the country.
Heavily armed Taliban fighters are fanning out across Kabul, the capital city. The militant group has already taken control of the abandoned presidential palace and two-thirds of the country.
Suhail Shaheen, a Taliban spokesman and negotiator, told AP they would hold talks in the coming days aimed at forming an “open, inclusive Islamic government”.
Ian King, a Sky News business reporter, estimated that agriculture accounts for at least half of all employment in Afghanistan where two in five people are jobless.
Apart from opium, wheat is the key agricultural export, although there has also been diversification in recent years into more valuable crops such as walnuts, almonds, pistachios, saffron, pomegranates and raisins.
This is despite increasing amounts of land being given over to opium cultivation.
International observers say the opium trade has long been ruled by the Taliban, helping to arm the group.
According to King, a lack of investment in cold stores and packaging facilities has held back Afghanistan’s ability to make more from fruit and vegetable exports, with at least a quarter of agricultural products reckoned to deteriorate after being harvested to such an extent that they cannot be sold.
This week, the commercial horticulture and agricultural marketing programme of USAID reported that it distributed nearly three million saplings and grape cuttings to some 20 000 farmers and established or improved more than 6 200 hectares of farmland in 15 provinces since 2002.
The USAID report furthermore says since 2006 it has facilitated more than $1.4 billion in increased sales of agricultural products in Afghanistan. USAID-supported agribusinesses exported $532 million of this total to international markets, bringing Afghan cashmere, fruits and nuts to global buyers.
Abolishment of women’s rights
Meanwhile, fearful Afghans are desperately trying to flee the country, lining up at ATMs to withdraw their life savings. The UN refugee agency reports that nearly 250 000 Afghans have fled their homes since the end of May amid fears the Taliban would reimpose its strict and ruthless interpretation of Islam.
Eighty percent of those displaced are women and children. According to AP, Afghans also fear the Taliban will reimpose its brutal rule that eliminated the rights of women. This week alone has seen a shocking return to a life many Afghan women hoped would never return.
Women accused of adultery are publicly stoned. The Taliban have started lashing women and girls for wearing “revealing sandals” in public while those who even leave their homes without men have to face tough consequences. Some women are desperately destroying any evidence of their formal education which is strictly prohibited by the Taliban.
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