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By LOCKIE GARY, Hardee County Extension Director, Livestock Agent

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN — After thirty-four hours of continuous airline travel from Ft. Myers, Florida, I was in no mood to be left standing by myself outside the terminal in Kabul, Afghanistan. But here I was with my five heavy duffel bags full of veterinary tools and livestock supplies and not a soul in sight. The armored personnel carrier directly in front of the terminal doors was manned by five soldiers, one of which was an American. When I asked directions to the parking lot he pointed with his rifle to a group of vehicles about 500 meters away.

It took me three trips to haul my luggage through the sand but there was my contact, Carson Coleman, Chief of Party, for Land O’ Lakes, Afghanistan, waving his arms above his head. He had just learned of new security precautions which forbade any vehicular traffic within 500 yards of the terminal and had no opportunity to warn me ahead of my arrival.

After a three hour security briefing and warm welcome I was taken to a guesthouse to relax before my assignment began early the next morning. The guesthouse was very modest by U.S. standards. I was the only American staying there at the time. This was done to maintain a low profile. I would be picked up at a different time by a different driver in a different vehicle and returned by a different route at a different time each day of my 31-day assignment.

For the next month I would be privileged to serve as a livestock consultant to Land O’ Lakes International Division on a USAID grant entitled “Dairy Industry Revitalization in Afghanistan.” This was my ninth trip to the area but my first trip into Afghanistan. Land O’ Lakes personnel had proven to be totally reliable and trustworthy on three previous trips to Azerbaijan and once to South Africa. I was well prepared, felt reasonably secure, and was excited to begin work.

Scope of Work
My responsibilities would include training four veterinarians (two husband/wife teams) and nine female extension workers. The veterinarians were to be trained in field testing for brucellosis and tuberculosis, both of which are zoonotic diseases transmissible to humans. Additionally, we screened cattle for mastitis using the California Mastitis Test, synchronized estrus in cows and heifers for artificial insemination, and semen tested bulls in conjunction with Breeding Soundness Exams.

Training was provided in fecal exams of cattle and small ruminants and identification of larvae. The four veterinarians were exceptional students, eager to learn and put the training to practical use. All they needed was enough encouragement to develop the needed confidence to put the training into practice. We did this by conducting several days of intense practice at a private, undisclosed location out of sight of the villages where we would test and breed the cattle. By doing this we all felt comfortable and worked well as a team when entering a village.

We usually had 75-100 observers surrounding us in each village. Some were cattle owners, some were skeptical onlookers and, of course, lots of children. We even attracted the local shura, or local governing council, and in one instance an imam or Muslim priest.

In Afghanistan it falls to the women of the family to work with the cattle. Prior to my arrival nine women had been selected out of 24 villages to be trained as extension workers. They were required to be literate and were chosen for being hard working and of excellent character and reputation. Some were married and some were still maidens. Their husbands and fathers had to be convinced of the worthiness of the program and all subject matter and materials were carefully scrutinized. The local shura in every village also had to place their blessing on the program before any instruction could be conducted. These nine women are currently serving as “trainers” teaching other women “dairy farmers.”

Afghan women are not allowed to go outside the family compound, so all their interactions with project women extension agents occur in their homes. Gaining the trust of the women dairy farmers and their families is developing over time. Afghans do not allow their women to even interact with outside women (women from another family) unless it is approved by the men in the family. It is noteworthy to point out that all project data is collected by women extension agents and all of the project participants are women.

It is extremely difficult to convey to a Westerner how carefully protected the Afghan women are in the rural village setting. Even after the Taliban were ousted by American military forces in 2001, women still do not venture outside the four walls of their home compound unescorted or without wearing the burqa or head-to-toe covering. One of the female veterinarians, herself an Afghani, shared with me that it had taken her over a full year to gain the trust of the village elders in order to even enter the village.

Farmer’s Field Day
The most exciting single event which took place during my stay was the Farmer’s Field Day hosted by Land O’Lakes sub-agreement partner, Afghan Reconstruction Council (ARC). The event included animal judging and the awarding of prizes to the first five places in each class. Farmers were awarded prizes for the best Rooster, Ewe, Ram, Dairy Cow, Bull and Ox. It was my privilege to serve as one of the four judges for this event. This was a wonderful day for everyone in the village as they all seemed to enjoy seeing the animals paraded in front of the judges. It was clear from the group’s response that they especially enjoyed the clapping and laughter when the prizes were awarded.

Several very important advisors to the Minister of Agriculture attended the event as well as some very influential local officials. It was clear to all that this village had not experienced this much joy and heartfelt celebration for many years.

The success of this field day proved to me that that this type of program could be a success in other of the project villages as well. It is important for the reader to recognize that Afghanistan is recovering from 23 years of war and laughter and smiles do not come easily.

Landmines
It is not possible to travel anywhere in Afghanistan without seeing scores of both men and women with limbs lost due to landmine accidents. Most of the mines were placed into the ground by the Soviets during their ten year occupation beginning in December, 1979. American military forces began removing many of these mines during Operation Enduring Freedom.

A study on the social impact of landmines in Afghanistan indicates that the bulk of the loss was suffered by the Kuchi (nomads) who reported losses of nearly 35,000 animals; this is an average of 24.4 animals per household, or $2,933 at local market prices.
A study by the Mine Clearance Planning Agency reports on a survey conducted in 949 villages documenting 264,136 sheep and goats, 55,369 cows and oxen, 36,276 horses and donkeys, and 5,354 camels were killed by landmines since the beginning of the Soviet invasion. Farmers plowing their fields and children at play suffered the most.

I saw several UN bomb disposal teams working in remote areas as well as private contractors methodically sweeping fields. It may cost as little as $3 to produce a landmine. It costs $300-$1000 to remove one.

Extensive and prolonged medical and rehabilitation services are needed but are mostly unavailable. The World Health Organization estimates that without landmines in Afghanistan, agricultural production could increase by 80-200%. They also estimate that at the current rate of removal it will take 1,100 years to remove all of the several million landmines believed to exist in Afghanistan.

Security
For more than twenty years the people of Afghanistan have faced violence, lawlessness, torture, killing, rape and every sort of suffering that characterize war. Whatever measure of human welfare or security one chooses — life expectancy, the mortality of women and children, health, literacy, access to clean water, nutrition — Afghanistan ranks near the bottom.

Afghanistan has no national institutions even capable of compiling accurate data for reporting. The data which is available are rough estimates compiled by international NGO’s (non-governmental organizations).

The security situation remains critical for American citizens. There are remnants of the former Taliban regime and the terrorist al-Qaida network who want to drive all Westerners out of Afghanistan and they do not hesitate to use violence to achieve their aims.

Terrorist actions include suicide operations, bombings, assassinations, carjackings, rocket attacks, assaults and kidnappings. Both threats and incidents have increased in recent months and of greatest concern are attacks using vehicle-borne explosives, improvised explosive devices and other forms of bombs.

There is an ongoing threat to kidnap US citizens and NGO workers throughout the country. There is also a real danger from the presence of millions of unexploded landmines and other ordinance.

During my stay in Afghanistan there were six rocket attacks in Kabul. We received daily Warden Messages from the Consular Section of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul. Many of the warnings concerned vehicle-borne explosive devices. A common tactic is for the terrorist to indicate a radiator problem by raising the car hood and walking away pretending to fetch water to fill the radiator. The car would then be remotely detonated.

Many areas are simply off limits to Americans. These include all restaurants, internet cafes, bazaars, military facilities and areas with high population densities. Travel after dark is strictly forbidden.

Religion
Religion is the strongest common bond among Afghanistan’s various ethnic groups. It has been said that there are three things an Afghan will die for — his religion, his family and his land. The overwhelming majority of Afghans, or about 99% are Muslims. About 84% are Sunni Muslims and about 15% are Shia Muslims.

Small groups of Hindus, Sikhs, Parsis, and Jews are scattered in rural towns. Mazar-e Sharif, where the tomb of the Muslim leader Ali is said to be located in a 15th-century mosque, is a leading place of Muslim pilgrimage.
An important figure in Muslim life is the mullah (a male religious leader or teacher). Any man who can recite the Qur’an (Koran), the sacred scriptural text of Islam, from memory can be a mullah.

In Afghanistan, however, the mullah may not understand either the words or the meaning because the book was written and is memorized in Arabic, which is not a local language. The mullah conducts the Friday sermon and prayers, marriages and funerals. Mullahs also teach the laws and doctrines of Islam to both adults and children. Mullahs arbitrate local disputes, based upon Islamic law, and are also called upon to provide advice and resolution of many other social and personal problems, including such things as medicine, local water disputes, or even a family feud. The more remote the area, the greater the influence of the mullah.

Outlook for the Future
The challenges facing Afghanistan are formidable. Four years after the fall of the Taliban, an estimated 153,000 people remain displaced. Food insecurity persists in large parts of the country, particularly in rural areas where the absorption capacity for returnees continue to be stretched.

In an incessantly tense security environment with increasing attacks by insurgents on representatives of the international community, the Afghan government is making an effort to assert its sovereignty.

Try to imagine yourself in Kabul with a locally estimated population of five million persons. Only the main streets are paved. Most of the side streets are unpaved and full of deep potholes. There are no traffic signals — none whatsoever! Anyone can drive anywhere...and they do. Many drive the wrong way on one way streets. There are numerous traffic circles and speedbumps without which many more persons would be killed.

Livestock fill the highways as well as vendors. There is no sewer system. All waste is simply flushed onto the streets where it quickly dries. A large yellow cloud engulfs the capital city each day as people go about their business with a cloth covering their face.

The challenges seem overwhelming when one considers that until recently girls were not allowed to attend school. Hospitals are poorly staffed and inadequately stocked. Infant mortality is among the highest in the world. Clean water is largely unavailable.

And then there is the problem of women’s rights. While the Afghan government is striving to ensure women’s rights, it was reported by Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) that over 100 cases of self-immolation have been documented over the past year alone. Self-immolation is the act of setting oneself ablaze. The number of self-immolation cases could be higher than recorded as many women and their relatives cannot report to police because of fear of divorce, killing and more violation.

Around 80 cases of forced marriages and 199 cases of physical torture and beating have also been registered over the past year, the report said.

But in the rural villages I visited there is much hope. The Dairy Industry Revitalization Project began in Parwan province north of Kabul. We worked intensively in 24 villages with 708 families of women farmers representing 778 mature cows.

Fresh milk is collected daily by the milk collector driving a three-wheeled motorcycle. The driver performs a simple alcohol test to determine freshness at the farm gate. Farmers know when he will arrive to pick up the milk and coordinate their milking times to expedite the task of collecting/consolidating the milk.

The driver rushes the milk directly to restaurants and ice-cream makers, ensuring optimal freshness. The restaurant owners are assured of receiving a reliable and comparatively high quality raw milk product in a timely manner. The women farmers receive twice as much income from their milk by simply coordinating collection activities.

The entire project was best summed up at the Field Day held in Sofeyan village of Charikar when the president of the local shura addressed the crowd of over 100 persons as follows:

“We have 85 farmers in this area cooperating in the Land O’Lakes Dairy Revitalization Program. Their cows are producing more milk and the farmers are more profitable. But we have 1,100 farmers in this village and we need all of them involved in this program.”

My last impression on this assignment was of three women farmers excitedly speaking to one of our women extension workers in the midst of their three cows. They were all smiling. Hope comes one farmer at a time.

PHOTOS BY LOCKIE GARY