Indrika Ratwatte, the UNAMA deputy special representative for Afghanistan said that the UN’s development program has supported 60,000 families in Afghanistan engaged in small businesses and agriculture since 2016.
Ratwatte, who traveled to Balkh to assess the performance of UN partners for farmers, also pledged it would distribute improved seeds to farmers who previously engaged in poppy cultivation.
The Deputy Special Representative of the United Nations in Afghanistan said: “Most recently in the Doha meeting that has taken place with the authorities, the international community, one part of the decision is also about the importance of the private sector, how to support the private sector, small and medium enterprisers, women led enterprisers, small and medium enterprises, forming and other trades, how we can support it, because that is the heart of also the Afghanistan economy so I am happy to be here today.”
Some farmers who have been supported by the UN development program are asking for support for other farmers from this organization.
Gul Mohammad, a farmer, said: “Since opium and these things disappeared, we have cultivated cotton, almonds, and wheat, and we also plant mung beans and sesame.”
Another farmer, Mohammad, said: “We are happy with this office for helping us sell our cotton seeds.”
The UNDP has managed to establish a cotton processing factory in Balkh, providing job opportunities for some young people and a market for farmers supported by this organization to sell their agricultural products.
Abdul Khalil Balkhi, the head of the cotton processing factory, said: “For about two to two and a half years, we have been working with UNAMA and UNDP. They provided us with machinery and increased our production capacity.”
Lal Mohammad, a worker, said: “Thanks to God, with this machine they made for us, we are employed, and we are making a living from this.”
The Deputy Special Representative of the United Nations in Afghanistan also said that since 2016, they have helped about 10 families in Balkh province in the areas of small business and agriculture.