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The first 500,000 trees are in the ground marking the end of planting for the first phase.
“We are just really impressed with the team and their dedication and hard work to meet their target on time,” said
Du Bruille (left).
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The main goals of the project are to:
• Establish 7,500 acres of perennial fruit and nut orchards, providing a viable alternative livelihood for up to 5,000 farmers.
• Train farmers and extension workers through a technical assistance program.
• Build an extension network and establish an “Innovative Growers Network” to highlight best practices and facilitate technology transfer.
• Establish four demonstration farms (at least one per province) including 8 hectares of drip irrigation.
• Assist in the formation of grower-based, market-oriented growers associations.
• Establish one nursery at or near each demonstration orchard.
• Begin the re-establishment / consolidation of perennial horticulture value chains in the Eastern Region.
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Opium to Orchards
Eastern Region Orchard Development Program - Spring 2006 Update
ERODP - Program Page
The first 500,000 trees are in the ground, and nearly 4,000 acres of fruit and nut orchard are taking root where poppies once grew. Aerial photography shows as much as a 65% replacement of opium poppies with orchards in some districts in Nangarhar Province, once the leading poppy growing province in Afghanistan.
This marks the end of planting for the first phase of the USAID-sponsored alternative livelihoods program being implemented through a grant from DAI. The International Foundation of Hope’s Agriculture Specialists worked with local farmers to plant trees in ten districts of Nangarhar and two districts in Laghman provinces. Another 500.000 trees will be planted next season, adding six districts including some in higher elevations. Farmer training will also be expanded and will include training modules being developed by UC Davis, Iowa State University and Wenatchee Valley College.
“It was a major accomplishment to enroll and train over 2,100 farmers and plant 500,000 trees according to schedule,” said Jim Du Bruille, Chief of Operations for the International Foundation of Hope (IFHope). IFHope’s field staff comprised of eleven teams of two Afghan agriculture specialists and four assistants overcame many obstacles in the process of recruiting, selecting, and training farmers, surveying land, and designing orchards. When the weather warmed, shortening the planting window, they ended up working seven days a week from 6:00 am until dark for two months to complete the planting on time. Three five-acre demonstration orchards in Shinwar, Khewa, and Surkh Rod districts have also been established. “We are just really impressed with the team and their dedication and hard work to meet their target on time,” said Du Bruille.
“We work with farmers who are motivated,” said Du Bruille. “This program is a partnership and requires significant investment of time and effort on the part of farmers.” IFHope believes an attitude of dependency is a recent cultural trait that is fostered when NGOs and others providing assistance do everything for aid recipients. IFHope is holding firm on practices that will encourage self-sufficiency and self-respect.
Fearing the promised help would not come, some farmers planted poppy as an insurance policy. When they saw IFHope in their neighbors’ fields planting orchards, many plowed their poppies under in order to participate. "Once they see our agriculture specialists are there and serious about moving ahead, the farmers are more willing to remove the poppy crop and join with the project,” said Du Bruille. “When given the choice, a significant number are choosing orchards over poppies. Now they have a realistic alternative and that is very encouraging.”
  
IFHope has been a leader in Afghanistan’s orchard development programs for the past three years and has progressed from simple tree give-aways, to providing limited technical assistance, to what is now a comprehensive program, with strict evaluation criteria for enrollment, initial training, input supply, follow-up training, monthly site visits, monitoring and technical assistance.
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