Now, I can suggest to my husband new methods and techniques to take care of our produce. It is not always the other way around anymore
Like the majority of women living in rural areas of Afghanistan, Biba Hawa helps her husband through contributing her labour to the family’s agricultural work. ACTED is supporting families like hers through providing trainings aimed at boosting productivity, ensuring that Afghans facing difficult economic conditions and food scarcity receive the necessary support to sustain their families.
Afghanistan remains highly dependent on agricultural imports (such as wheat flours, rice and citrus fruits) from neighbouring countries, most prominently Kazakhstan, India, Iran and Pakistan, despite its own potential to meet the food demands of its population. A range of major challenges such as the increasing frequency of droughts, conflict, and slow economic growth all combine to stifle the country’s rich potential.
Bibi Hawa, 35, lives in Dahander village, Laghman province with her eight family members. Due to their precarious economic situation, Bibi Hawa could not afford the expense of sending her daughters to school and struggled to cover day-to-day household expenses.
Most female farmers who help their families do not receive any kind of guidance on how to be effective in their role. With ACTED’s help they can fill in these gaps and also learn how to sell their products in market and increase their incomes.
Working with over 300 female farmers like Bibi Hawa, ACTED provided field school trainings in five provinces across Afghanistan. They aimed at teaching participants new techniques and developing their critical thinking with regards to the agricultural sector. Central to the course is lessons on household level vegetable cultivation, including best practices in planting, watering and harvesting.
The inclusion of females in this training and in the agricultural sector in general, represents a key opportunity to bolster the decision-making power of women within their households and in some cases allows them more influence over how the family’s money is spent.
Women are really happy from the project, they really appreciate what ACTED has done for them and their family.