Nangarhar Province decides for POM354
Nangarhar Jirga 26th March 2008
A major breakthrough has been achieved at this meeting with Tribal Elders. With twice the number of invited Elders actually turning up at the meeting, one can, confidently, say that any decision reached here will effectively reach all the people of this province.
Background information:
Nangarhar Province is one of the Afghan provinces with a worrying increase in poppy cultivation, replacing more traditional means of subsistence.
Provided by the Afghan government, in conjunction with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the picture below shows the gravity of the situation. The red arrow points to Nangarhar Province.
A unique chance.
A unanimous decision by the operational representatives of the people of Nangarhar Province was reached on this day, 26th March 2008. The decision to put a stop to poppy cultivation and fully participate in the POM354 initiative is, to put it mildly, an opportunity not to be missed!
To facilitate the practical implementation of the proposals discussed at this meeting, POM354 will now go ahead and realize a number of projects to turn theory into practical, achievable goals.
These projects will, in large, be replicable throughout the whole of Afghanistan after gaining agreement of the Tribal elders at the National Jirga (meeting) later this year.
Click here to read some more about the Jirga.
The future: P o m e g r a n a t e s
Initially, POM354 projects will concentrate on a three-pronged approach to going ahead, namely:
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Tree planting
Next planting season, early spring 2009, POM354 will start an extensive tree planting scheme in Nangarhar Province (and any others, as demand and finances will allow). In support of this, POM354 will immediately initiate a number of projects aimed at obtaining wide involvement and cooperation from various sources. Such projects are, for instance:
- Adopt a Pomegranate Tree
- Donate (a) Pomegranate Tree(s)
And similar initiatives, where the generation of essential funds is as important as the creation of as many links as possible between people in 'our world' and the people in rural Afghanistan.
- Storage facilities
- Processing
A major problem, and reason for many to switch from Pomegranates to poppies, has been the inability of Afghan farmers to sell their produce when ripe. Partly because of the ongoing military struggle. But, perhaps just as importantly, also due to the lack, or destruction, of infrastructure and means to store and, when appropriate, distribute the fruit. Positive results of such facilities have already been shown by some initiatives in Kandahar Province.
Pomegranates, without a doubt, have enormous global potential. Local storage facilities are, therefore, of crucial importance in the move to reinstate pomegranates as a viable alternative livelihood for Afghan farmers.
Another essential ingredient is to develop a local capability to process any or all of the orchards'yields.
There are many applications for products derived from this extremely versatile fruit. Worldwide demand for many of these products is steadily increasing, making it more than worthwhile to produce them locally.
Within the context of POM354, extensive research, and in some instances initial product development, has been done by its initiator, Mr. James Brett, and others to test viability, demand, and pricing of pomegranate related products.