Extending the benefits of soybean farming in Afghanistan
Traditionally, soybeans are not cultivated in Afghanistan, nor used in Afghan cooking. Their nutritious value is well recognized internationally, and for the past forty years they have been gradually introduced in Afghanistan. The bread that is made with an addition of soya flour is healthier, but also appreciated for its taste by many Afghans. Soybeans are also used to produce cooking oil, usually imported, reducing Afghanistan’s trade deficit. Soya dairy substitution products are gradually making inroads in Afghan eating habits. Altogether soybean production and consumption across Afghanistan, and public understanding of its benefits, is still low, but steadily growing.
The soybean cultivation partnership that FAO Afghanistan had with authorities under the Republic collapsed with that government, and FAO continued these efforts first by itself, with generous backing of the Republic of Korea, and recently in collaboration with the World Food Programme (WFP). It has not been wholly unproblematic. Some of the beans distributed in 2023 were not of the right variety, leading to disappointment among the farmers who received those. FAO has undertaken action with its suppliers to ensure this will not happen again. Overall, however, FAO’s soybean program has been successful.
Let us now turn to a soybean farmer in the village of Now Joi in Kuz Kunar district of Nangarhar. Mr Khaili Gul struggled to make ends meet as the sole caregiver for his family after his son was disabled in a war incident. At the start of last planting season, he wondered how he could plant a new crop of soybeans, as he lacked the money to purchase seeds and fertilizers. To his relief, he was included as a beneficiary of the FAO-WFP "Strengthening of the soybean value chain to improve food security and farmers' livelihoods," project. This project reached 2700 beneficiaries in eight provinces.
As part of the project, Common Interest Groups (CIGs) were established in the targeted districts of Nangarhar: Kuz Kunar, Batikot, Rodat, and Dehbala. These groups selected eligible farmers based on specific criteria, such as owning a maximum of 2 jeribs (0,4 ha) of irrigated land, complying to other indicators of vulnerability, willingness to attend technical training, and agreeing not to resell the project-provided inputs. Each farmer – including Khaili Gul - received 20 kg of soybean certified seeds, 30 kg of fertilizer, and 0.2 kg of inoculant.
Although crop farming is an exclusively male occupation in most parts of Afghanistan, the processing of food is mostly done by women. Throughout Afghanistan, 1054 women were trained in processing soybeans into flour and dairy products, under the programme supported by Korea. Female beneficiaries formed their own CIGs, which empower their members by enhancing their socio-economic role and providing a forum in which they can meet and discuss their affairs, outside of their homes. We will soon publish about these women and their activities.
As for the male farmers, the CIGs distributed seeds and inputs to their members and hosted comprehensive technical training provided by FAO experts. Topics covered included land preparation, fertilization, irrigation, harvesting and bringing the produce to markets.
The CIGs – which only focus on one activity, in this case soybean farming or processing - play a crucial role in improving the livelihoods of small farmers like Khaili Gul. These groups, constituted entirely of beneficiaries, enhance productivity and profitability. They provide essential services such as marketing, credit, and information sharing. They also ensure that beneficiaries share a fixed part of their harvest with surrounding farmers, providing them the soybeans free of charge so that they can also plant this profitable crop.
Despite challenges such as drought and a lack of appropriate agricultural machinery and storage facilities, Khaili Gul and his fellow farmers applied the knowledge gained through the project. They successfully cultivated soybeans, producing an impressive 65 metric tons on 120 jeribs land through three Common Interest Groups members, involving 90 farmers in Kuz Kunar district.
Approximately 80 percent of the harvest was sold, bringing substantial economic benefits to the farmers. A kilo of soybeans selling on average at 48 Afghanis (USD 0.69), the soybean farmers from Kuz Kunar shared between them an income of more than USD 35 000, nearly USD 400 per household. Indeed, as Khaili Gul reminded us, soybeans yield higher profits compared to other legume crops. The market for soybeans consists largely of private sector vegetable oil-producing companies.
The success, over the past decade, of the Republic of Korea-supported soybean cultivation and use program has led other donors to support this effort. Thus, in 2023 the UN Special Trust Fund for Afghanistan invested in FAO-managed soybean cultivation among 12 280 farmers in the North, East and South of Afghanistan, adding to the 2700 already supported by Korea. Besides contributing to better nutrition and income generation of the farmers’ households (more than 100 000 people), soybean cultivation feeds the secondary market of selling and processing soybean products, enhancing rural livelihoods in this country struggling with drought and cash shortage.