Arghand
was founded in May 2005, by Sarah Chayes, a former National Public
Radio reporter who stayed behind in Afghanistan to help rebuild the
war-torn country. She and a handful of loyal and daring Kandaharis
decided to explore a notion for how to add value to celebrated local
fruit crops, long the fame of the region. Given the explosion in international
demand for fine natural skin-care products, and the abundance of their
raw materials in the orchards of southern Afghanistan – almonds,
apricots, pomegranates, the precious blossoms of Rosa damascena
– Arghand members decided to try to carve out a place for Afghanistan
in this young market.
The
road, they all agree, has been a voyage of discovery, as they have
distilled the blossoms and leaves of wild plants they have gathered
on the rock-strewn hillsides overlooking Kandahar, as they have discovered
abundant indigenous root-crops, such as licorice root and madder,
whose cultivation they can now encourage, as they have found through
their own experimentation unexpected properties of pomegranate juice.
(Please see “Raw Materials,”
and “Processes.”)
The result is a unique line of soaps and oils, whose aesthetic beauty
and skin-nourishing virtues are truly unparalleled. (See “Products.”)
Arghand
is a cooperative, registered with the Afghan Ministry of Agriculture.
As such, it, its assets, risks, and revenues are the joint property
of those who contribute their efforts to its activities. Planning
and decision-making are carried out by consensus, after consultations
among all members. Officers are elected at an annual general assembly.
Arghand’s
long-term objective is to contribute to the process of weaning southern
Afghanistan off of its dependence on the opium poppy. This scourge
is distorting the region’s economy, criminalizing its politics,
and putting its people at the mercy of armed gangs and so-called insurgents.
Only by expanding the market for licit local agriculture, Arghand
members believe, can the rural population be freed from the grasp
of opium. Arghand therefore works directly with local farmers for
the provision of its raw materials, and over time will be including
them among its members. The idea is to bring these farmers a higher
return for their produce by eliminating middlemen, and to help solve
their chronic infrastructure problems by picking up their produce
at the farm gate, rather than obliging them to bring it to market.
In 2005 and 2006, this goal was somewhat elusive, since the security
situation has deteriorated to such an extent that villagers fear retaliation
by “insurgents,” if they are seen to have connections
with anyone linked to the current government. (Please see “Notes
from the Field,” October 31, 2005.) Arghand also hopes to
be a channel for new agricultural techniques – organic wherever
possible and conservative of resources – as well as general
know-how and equipment to participating farmers.
Arghand
membership includes men and women, and Arghand is committed to providing
women with dignified employment remunerated at a fair level, as well
as an equal share in the decision-making process.
If you see few photos of Arghand women in the
pages that follow, it is at their express desire. People are murdered
in Kandahar on a weely basis for involvement in the current effort
at nation-building, and women are under particular pressure.
Beyond Our Borders Fund, Denver Colorado