Is Afghanistan Ready to Trade Poppies for Pomegranates?

Infrastructure Problems Say All Answers Lead to No

The Afghanistan economy has been described as a 19th century model lodged into a 21st century world.  It is a net importer of food and a net exporter of just one product–poppy derivatives like heroin and opium.  So far this has kept the country afloat.  But, the market for the local poppies has lately come undone.  For the past four years Afghanistan’s production has outstripped the global demand for heroin, thus causing its prices to tumble.  In order to help feed the country’s people and to also wean them off a drug trade that is closely tied to the Taliban insurgency, world groups have tried to convince local farmers to try a number of legal crops.  The latest of these forays has focused its attention on the pomegranate.

The United States Agency for International Development held a World Pomegranate Fair at a farm on the edge of Kabul.  Bill Phillimore, executive vice president of Paramount Farming Co., the producer of POM Wonderful, talked to a group of Afghan farmers about the virtues of pomegranates.  He talked up the multi-million dollar profits his company earns from the little fruit, and how in the last few years the sale price of pomegranates has quadrupled (a distinctly opposite trend of the heroin market).

His audience was somewhat bemused. “The thing we wanted was some vital instructions on how to grow our pomegranate trees but they have just given us this book, which is empty,” said Gulam Haider, a 60-year-old farmer from Kapisa province, pointing to a notebook handed out by the organisers. It was blank, except for an exhortation against growing poppies.

The Economist: Bring on the Pomegranate

Mint, saffron, cotton, and other crops have failed to take hold in the Afghan farming system, so there is already much pessimism about the pomegranate experiment.  Indian epicures have purchased some Afghani pomegranates, but are disappointed with the imported fruit.  First, it is invariably damaged, because farmers only have wooden crates for shipping.  Then there is the extra time the fruit languishes in that box due to various border controls.  Unfortunately, Afghanistan has no central government that could fund and build the infrastructure needed to promote successful and efficient exports.

The American “War on Terror” was supposed to help create this governmental power, but that mission is obviously far from accomplished.  Small, local tribunals dominate the political landscape and probably will for some time.  I’m not sure what sort of ideological overhaul is necessary to alter the destiny of Afghanistan, but it is obvious that one or many are needed to pull the country into the 21st century.  Maybe pomegranates will live up to their life-giving promises by serving as the catalyst to Afghanistan’s transition into a new economic frontier.  But, have you ever tried cracking into one of those things?  The reconstruction of Afghanistan will be like that times a million harder and then some.  Good luck.

December 10, 2008  Tags: , ,   Posted in: Politics

Leave a Reply