Afghanistan: Can pomegranates power the economy?

By Daud Qarizadah & Harun Najafizade

BBC Persian

Farmers face a tough choice between lucrative opium poppies and legal crops
such as pomegranates

As delegates gather in London for a conference on Afghanistan, the

prospects for reducing the reliance on foreign aid are increasingly
focused on two sectors of the economy: agriculture and hydrocarbons.

Harvest time is coming to an end in the fruit orchards of Kandahar, a province

now more associated with the Taliban than its famous pomegranates.

Amid shouts of "Ya Allah! Ya Allah!" fruit pickers are urging care as they pass
the valuable crop from the tree tops to catchers on the ground. The weather
is still mild and ideal to let the fruit sweeten. Packed in boxes or jute sacks,
the fruit make its way to markets and warehouses, some goes to Pakistan and
the Middle East. But for Afghanistan to profit from one of its key crops, it
needs to reach more profitable markets in Europe and beyond.

Afghan pomegranates are among the best in the world, according to experts
To make pomegranates pay, Afghan exporters need to tap European markets

Learning curve
In a factory in southern England, cartons of pomegranate juice are rolling off
the production line.

The Pomegreat juice company buys quality pomegranate concentrate from all
over the world and now has its sights set on Afghanistan. "Pomegranates
from Afghanistan are amongst the best in the world," says its boss Adam
Pritchard. "But the logistical challenges are also amongst some of the most
difficult."

At this week's London Conference on Afghanistan, Mr Pritchard has signed a

multimillion pound supply agreement with the Kabul-based Omaid Bahar Fruit
Processing Company to buy 1,000 tonnes of pomegranate concentrate. It
could prove a blueprint for Afghan agriculture in the years to come if all goes
to plan.

Pomegranate juice is growing in popularity in the UK

Plenty of Challenges
In an office in central Kabul, Najlla Habibiyar, head of Afghanistan's Export
Promotion Agency, is realistic about the extent of the challenge facing Mr
Pritchard and his Afghan partners. She is only too aware of how tough it is for
Afghan farmers to make a living from pomegranates, in contrast to the illegal
mainstay - opium.

Pomegranates need "work, time and a good market", she says. "But with
poppies, farmers know they'll get paid, even if their crops get eradicated. It's
less hassle." Opium production was up 17% this year - as poor security
further dented efforts to stamp out poppy growing.

Pomegranate production is also on the rise. But while poppy farmers can
expect the buyers to come to them, pomegranate growers face big obstacles
getting their fruit to market. "The main challenges are to have proper facilities
for cold storage, processing and packaging", says Najlla Habibyar. "And
unfortunately we don't have an internationally recognised body to do the final
quality checks and certify the product."

When Pomegreat first looked at buying juice concentrate from Kabul, these
complications meant the final product was just too expensive.

But Adam Pritchard hopes things will be different now.

"We're trying to work with the manufacturing facility to help them develop a
process which allows their product to become more commercially viable and
to compete in the world market," he says.

Experts say the energy sector a more viable long-term basis for prosperity

Oiling the economy

In northern Afghanistan, foreign investors are also working with local
companies to kickstart the economy.

In this case, the end product is oil.

In the basin of the Amu Darya, one of the region's great rivers, the Kashkari
oil field is one of three being developed by China's National Petroleum
Company in partnership with Afghanistan's Watan Group.

The 25-year profit-sharing deal was signed in 2011. Three years on, there are
brand-new looking installations on show, but progress is slow. There are
thought to be around 80 million barrels of oil in these fields. It is not much in
global terms, but it would be enough to fuel the local economy if the oil could
be exploited and processed more quickly. Daily production so far is just a fifth
of what was expected, according to the mines ministry. There is no
processing capacity on site and the crude oil has to be transported to the
nearest refinery in Hairatan, a dangerous four-hour drive.

Afghanistan is trying to exploit several oil fields

Lal, one of the lorry drivers who does the trip regularly, says he and his
colleagues have no choice. "We are paid just $200 to take this route," he
says. "When we are attacked, it's for $200. If we get wounded, we get just $50
compensation." Lal is one of a few hundred people benefiting from the
employment opportunities oil exploration has brought.

The Chinese-Afghan consortium is also training local engineers and

technicians as part of the production agreement. But apart from that the local
economy has yet to feel real benefits in terms of cheaper petrol and energy
supplies.

Even so, Rafiq Siddiqui from the Mines and Petroleum Ministry says oil, gas
and Afghanistan's other commodities are the way ahead. "With the plans the
national unity government has, and with good management, we believe that
the way to economic stability is through natural resources. And that's not far
away," he says. Experts agree that mining could be the game-changer for the
Afghan economy in the long run.

In the meantime agriculture, the sector that employs most Afghans, will have
to plug the gap. Adam Pritchard thinks top-quality produce like pomegranates
can help to fulfil that need. "If Afghanistan is to stand on its own two feet, it
can't rely on subsidies and charity," he says. "The English apple is
synonymous with England. We process it and make juice out of it. There's no
difference with pomegranates in Afghanistan, and I have no doubt that in time
it will be a decent industry for the country."