Army Farmers Work to Regrow Afghanistan

By Nathan Hodge
August 3, 2009 |
12:57 am |
Categories: Af/Pak, Tactics, Strategy and Logistics

DASHT ROBAT, Afghanistan — U.S. assistance to Afghanistan often arrives in the form of cash, disbursed to local contractors through the Commander’s Emergency Response Program. But it also comes in the form of fertilizer spreaders, pesticide sprayers, shovels and rakes — and Midwestern common sense.

Perhaps nothing exemplifies the “Peace Corps with guns” approach to Afghanistan more than the U.S. Army’s Agribusiness Development Teams, or ADTs. As part of a relatively new experiment, Army National Guard volunteers from agricultural states have deployed here to train and advise Afghan farmers and agricultural officials on modern farming techniques and business practices. The first teams, fielded last year, were from Missouri and Texas; others have followed from places like Tennessee, Kansas and Indiana.

I recently spent time with the Nebraska National Guard’s ADT, which covers a sizeable chunk of north-central Afghanistan: Parwan, Kapisa, Bamiyan and Panjshir provinces. All of the team members, except one, are non-commissioned officers; in civilian life, they all work in agriculture or agribusiness. It’s an approach that seems to make sense: Military commanders can throw millions of dollars at their problems through reconstruction funding, but most are not trained development officers or engineers. All too often, money is poured into schools that can’t afford teachers, clinics that don’t have doctors, or roads that won’t be maintained.

The Nebraska Agribusiness Development Team, by contrast, has a much more modest bag of cash at its disposal. But it has something else: real expertise. Farming practices in Afghanistan are from another century, and some of the techniques the team imparts are as simple as a straight line. Afghan farmers typically broadcast seed; planting in straight rows makes it easier to weed and use tools. At a small plot in this village near Bagram Airfield, Staff Sgt. Billy Jones helped oversee the planting of some Monsanto hybrid corn (pictured here). As Sgt. First Class Eldon Kuntzelman explained, “If they continue to plant corn in the rows, their yields will come up.”

Basic biology helps as well. On a visit to the Parwan Bastan Seed company, a local agricultural supplier and storage facility, Jones identified spider mites on some corn stalks in the garden. “It’s not a disease, it’s an insect,” he explained to Haji Qahir, the head of the seed company. “And in the heat, they’ll spread. They’re a real pest, they’ll suck the juice out of the leaves. They can leave thousands of eggs.”

Over the course of their year-long tour, the Nebraska team built a close relationship with Qahir, who is an agricultural supplier in the Parwan area. Master Sgt. Colin Jones, the team’s top NCO, encouraged him to keep better records: it will help local farmers understand how much wheat requires how much fertilizer, and how yields are improving.

“Are they keeping a record of what variety does the best and under what conditions?” he asks through an interpreter. “I want to know that he’s keeping good records.”

With supplies from Parwan Bastan and assistance from local gardener, the team funded two garden plots for a girls’ school and a boys’ school. The idea of the project was to provide some vocational education — and a source of extra income for the schools.

After a sweaty hike in body armor to inspect the gardens, the team sat down for a modest lunch of bolani (flatbread stuffed with spinach and potato) with Qahir and the school headmaster. Savoring his bolani, Colin Jones looked satisfied. “It’s gratifying to see results in one tour,” he said.

Not all is rosy. The team still has to deal with Afghanistan’s precarious security — they move around in hulking armored vehicles — and their resources are miniscule compared to the multi-million-dollar development projects funded by the U.S. government. And many local suppliers are left out of the development process: They need an e-mail address in order to bid on projects, and that’s something of a rarity here.

Still, members of the team had a clear attachment to the schools project, and it was a something of an emotional meeting for team members, who have relied on Qahir during their tour. Before parting ways, Sgt. First Class Kuntzelman enclosed Qahir in a bear hug. In return, Qahir sent the team on its way with a small gift: Some sweet Kandahari grapes, and a bag of dried mulberries.

[PHOTO: Nathan Hodge]

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