fresh fruits and vegetables sector...fresh fruits and vegetables (ffv ) is perhaps the most...

Ministry ofIndustry and CommerceIslamic Republic of Afghanistan

AFGHANISTAN’SNATIONAL EXPORT STRATEGY 2018-2022

FRESH FRUITS AND VEGETABLES SECTORHarvesting success in regional and global markets

AFGH

ANISTAN

• NATIO

NAL EXPO

RT STRATEG

Y - FRESH FRUITS AND VEGETABLES SECTO

R • 2018-2022

ITC is the joint agency of the World Trade Organization and the United Nations. As part of ITC’s mandate of fostering sustainable development through increased trade opportunities, the Chief Economist and Export Strategy section offers a suite of trade-related strategy solu-tions to maximize the development pay-offs from trade. ITC-facilitated trade development strategies and roadmaps are oriented to the trade objectives of a country or region and can be tailored to high-level economic goals, specific development targets or particular sectors, allowing policymakers to choose their preferred level of engagement.

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AFGHANISTANNATIONAL EXPORT STRATEGY2018-2022FRESH FRUITS AND VEGETABLES SECTOR

This project is funded by the European Union

Ministry ofIndustry and CommerceIslamic Republic of Afghanistan

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Strategy forms an integral part of Afghanistan’s National Export Strategy. It was developed under the aegis of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, the leadership of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce ( MoIC ) and the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industries, in close collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock, the Afghanistan National Standards Authority and the Afghanistan Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The Strategy benefited from the contributions of sector stakeholders and associations, who played an important role in the consultative process. This Strategy was elaborated thanks to the technical assistance of the International Trade Centre ( ITC ) and falls under the framework of the European Union ( EU )-funded ‘Advancing Afghan Trade: EU Trade-Related Assistance’ project.

This document reflects the ambitions of the public and private stakeholders who defined the enhancements and future orientations for the sector for the purpose of increasing export performance and social dividends.

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NOTE TO THE READER

Afghanistan’s NES was developed based on a participatory approach during which over 500 Afghan industry leaders, small business owners, farmers and public sector representatives held consultations to reach consensus on key sector com-petitiveness issues and priority activities. These inclusive consultations were held throughout the country, including in Mazar-e-Sharif, Herat, Kandahar and Kabul, with participation of stakeholders coming from Nangarhar Province.

Besides in-depth research and value chain analysis, these consultations were com-plemented by:

� Factory visits through which supply chain assessments were carried out to gain further knowledge on key issues such as quality procedures, technical skills, lean management, quality of raw materials, access to market, etc.

� Interviews with domestic, regional and international buyers to guide the NES with strategic insights and market intelligence as well as buyers’ requirements in terms of quality standards, food safety, packaging, buying cycles, distribution channels, prices, etc.

� Donor coordination meetings to identify synergies with ongoing / planned ini-tiatives of development partners to eventually result in collaboration during the implementation phase.

In spirit and in action: The NES is aligned with existing national and sector-specific plans and policies and builds on ongoing initiatives in areas related to private sector development, regional integration, investment, and youth and women’s economic empowerment.

Equally important, the NES initiative already accommodates budgeting to support implementation of critical pilot activities identified during the design process. This will ensure that impact and momentum are generated from early on, and support further resource mobilization and confidence-building.

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The principal outputs of the NES Afghanistan design initiative are endorsed, coherent and comprehensive export Strategy documents with a five-year detailed plan of ac-tion ( PoA ) and implementation management framework. These documents include:

1. A main NES document, which contains Trade Support Functional strategies, offering critical support across value chains and acting as enablers for sector development.

2. Individual NES priority sector strategies packaged as separate documents but in alignment with the main NES findings and overarching strategic objectives.

NES Afghanistan

Main NES document comprising Trade Suppor t Functional Strategies:

� Quality management � Trade facilitation � Trade information and promotion � Skills development � Business and professional services � Access to finance

Individual NES priority sector documents:

� Saffron � Fresh fruits and vegetables � Dried fruits and nuts � Carpets � Marble and granite � Precious stones and jewellery

vi

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements iii

Note to the reader iv

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1

TRAJECTORY OF THE GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN AND ENTRY POINTS FOR AFGHAN EXPORTERS 5

PRODUCT MAP 5

HEALTHY OUTLOOK FOR THE GLOBAL FRESH FRUITS AND VEGETABLES INDUSTRY 6

EMERGING ECONOMIES ARE GAINING GROUND AS SUPPLIERS IN GLOBAL MARKETS 9

DEMAND HAS INCREASED IN ALL REGIONS, PARTICULARLY IN THE EUROPEAN AND ASIAN MARKETS 11

A closer look at demand in regional markets 12

Main regional importers of fresh fruits and vegetables 13

REGIONAL COMPETITORS POSE CHALLENGES IN BOTH DOMESTIC AND TARGET MARKETS 15

PEELING THE ONION : VALUE CHAIN ANALYSIS OF AFGHANISTAN’S FRESH FRUITS AND VEGETABLES SECTOR 19

CURRENT VALUE CHAIN AND OPERATIONS 19

Production of FFV 19

Processing of FFV 20

DISTRIBUTION 21

Domestic market 21

International market 21

MARKET DYNAMICS PROMOTE LOW PRICE RATHER THAN HIGH QUALITY 24

SUBSTANTIAL POSTHARVEST LOSSES AFFECT VOLUME AND CONSISTENCY OF PRODUCTION 24

LOGISTICAL CHALLENGES DELAY DELIVERY AND DEGRADE QUALITY 26

AFGHANISTAN’S CURRENT EXPORT PERFORMANCE 26

Survivability and sustainability of export relationships 27

AFGHANISTAN’S LEADING FRESH VARIETIES 30

Fresh fruits 30

Fresh vegetables 32

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‘MUSH’ ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT : A SERIES OF CHALLENGES PREVENTING SECTOR GROWTH 33

Compete 33

Connect 37

Change 40

YIELDING BETTER RESULTS : POSITIONING AFGHANISTAN’S FRESH FRUITS AND VEGETABLES SECTOR IN THE GLOBAL MARKET 43

MARKET IDENTIFICATION 47

Short-term to medium-term phase 47

Long-term phase 50

STRATEGIC OPTIONS FOR THE AFGHAN FRESH FRUITS AND VEGETABLES SECTOR 53

VISION 53

Strategic objective 1 : Increase volumes of production and improve price competitiveness 53

Strategic objective 2 : Reduce postharvest losses across the value chain by addressing technical and non-technical issues 55

Strategic objective 3 : Add value by improving postharvest practices and processing capacities 57

Strategic objective 4 : Increase the sector’s capacity to enter and sustain relationships in domestic and international markets 59

MOVING TO ACTION 61

KEY REQUIREMENTS FOR EFFECTIVE IMPLEMENTATION 61

Establish and operationalize a public and private sector coordinating body and executive secretariat 61

STRATEGIC PLAN OF ACTION 63

REFERENCES 77

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FIGURES

Figure 1 : Fresh fruits and vegetables sector strategy – theory of change 3

Figure 2 : World exports of fresh fruits and vegetables, 2005–2016 ( US $ thousands ) 9

Figure 3 : Main trade partners of the largest world exporters 10

Figure 4 : Imports by world region, 2006 and 2016 ( US $ thousands ) 11

Figure 5 : Current value chain – fresh fruits in Afghanistan 22

Figure 6 : Current value chain – fresh vegetables in Afghanistan 23

Figure 7 : Technical and non-technical causes of postharvest losses in Afghanistan’s fresh fruit and vegetables sector 25

Figure 8 : Afghan exports of fresh fruits and vegetables, 2005–2016 ( US $ thousands ) 26

Figure 9 : Probability of export survival for Afghan fresh fruit and vegetable exporters, 2002–2016 27

Figure 10 : Market reach of Afghan fresh produce exports, 2006 28

Figure 11 : Market reach of Afghan fresh produce exports, 2016 28

Figure 12 : Afghanistan’s top 10 export destinations for fresh fruit and vegetables, 2008 ( US $ thousands ) 29

Figure 13 : Afghanistan’s top 10 export destinations for fresh fruit and vegetables, 2016 ( US $ thousands ) 29

Figure 14 : Afghanistan sector export basket, 2008 29

Figure 15 : Afghanistan sector export basket, 2016 29

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TABLES

Table 1 : Main world exporters of fresh fruits and vegetables 10

Table 2 : Reachable import markets’ imports 12

Table 3 : Reachable markets’ imports of fresh grapes 13

Table 4 : Reachable markets’ imports of apples 13

Table 5 : Reachable markets’ imports of melons and watermelons 14

Table 6 : Reachable markets’ imports of onions 14

Table 7 : Reachable markets’ imports of tomatoes 15

Table 8 : Afghanistan’s main import markets for fresh grapes 30

Table 9 : Afghanistan’s main import markets for fresh apples 30

Table 10 : Afghanistan’s main import markets for fresh melons and watermelons 31

Table 11 : Afghanistan’s main import markets for pomegranates 31

Table 12 : Afghanistan’s main import markets for tomatoes 32

Table 13 : Afghanistan’s main import markets for onions 32

Table 14 : Short-to-medium term market opportunities 48

Table 15 : Long-term market opportunities 50

BOXES

Box 1 : Health benefits of fruits and vegetables consumption 6

Box 2 : Powerful pomegranates : a rising super fruit 8

Box 3 : Implications for Afghanistan 8

Box 4 : Implications for Afghanistan 17

Box 5 : The role of women in the fresh fruits and vegetables sector 20

Box 6 : List of fruits and vegetables approved for the United States market 35

Photo: USAID, Farmers working in a field in Surkhrod district of Nangarhar, Afghanistan.

xi

ACRONYMS

The following abbreviations are used :

ACCI Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industries

ANNGO Afghanistan National Nursery Growers’ Organization

ANSA Afghanistan National Standards Authority

ARIA Agricultural Research Institute of Afghanistan

EU European Union

FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

FFV Fresh fruits and vegetables

HS Harmonized System

ISPM International Standards For Phytosanitary Measures

ITC International Trade Centre

MAIL Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock

MoCI Ministry of Commerce and Industries

MoF Ministry of Finance

MoFA Ministry of Foreign Affairs

MoLSAMD Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled

MSMEs Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises

NES National Export Strategy

PoA Plan of action

PPP Public–private partnership

R&D Research and development

SMEs Small and medium-sized enterprises

TVET Technical and vocational education and training

UAE United Arab Emirates

Photo: CC0 Creative Commons

[ EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ]

1

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Afghanistan is a fundamentally agrarian nation, with agricul-tural production serving as one of the pillars of the economy. Fresh fruits and vegetables ( FFV ) is perhaps the most sig-nificant sector among Afghanistan’s agricultural pursuits, in terms of providing an honourable livelihood to millions of Afghan farmers, ensuring household food security, sup-plying the raw inputs for the dried fruits sector, and keeping fruit and vegetable stalls across the country bursting with healthy, mouth-watering fresh produce.

Moreover, as certain crops offer high economic returns per hectare of land, the FFV sector has the potential to im-prove the economic conditions of producers, particularly smallholders. Considering the labour-intensive nature of fruit and vegetable production, the sector can also provide gainful employment to young men and women, and hence contribute to poverty alleviation.

Afghanistan possesses ideal climatic and soil conditions for the production of a wide array of FFV, including grapes, pomegranates and melons. Afghan farmers have a com-parative advantage over regional neighbours ; climates in South Asia are overwhelmingly hot and humid, with Central Asian states to the north experience short growing seasons due to cold temperatures. As a result, the FFV sector has opportunities to respond to unmet consumer demand to both its north and south.

Traditionally, FFV has represented a significant share of Afghanistan’s export basket. Fresh fruits also serve as a raw material for the production of Afghanistan’s wide array of dried fruit products. In spite of Afghanistan’s comparative advantages and its advantageous regional position, the FFV sector has been unable to reach its full potential. Analysis offered in this Strategy paper reveals productivity and cost-related disadvantages at the production level vis-à-vis re-gional competitors, weak capacities to meet quality and phytosanitary standards, and logistics challenges resulting from Afghanistan’s landlocked position. All of these factors are aggravated by a weak national cold chain infrastructure and lack of refrigerated trucks. As a consequence, Afghan exports of FFV remain overly dependent on the Pakistani market.

In the short-to-medium term, Afghanistan has the poten-tial to consolidate sector exports to markets in close geo-graphic proximity, such as India and the Russian Federation, as demand in these target markets continues to rise. The opening of air cargo facilities will strengthen Afghan traders’ links to the Indian market, and could even enable exports of FFV to other regional markets that are out of reach at present.

Increasing FFV exports is not simply a logistics puzzle ; Afghanistan faces increasingly fierce price competition in domestic and regional markets, where the Islamic Republic of Iran and Pakistan are direct competitors. In the short term, Afghanistan should focus on regaining price competitive-ness and expanding into regional markets, predominantly with products that have a medium-to-long shelf life, such as grapes, apples and onions.

In the long term, taking into consideration high trans-port costs and the perishability of produce, Afghanistan should prioritize efforts to export high-value crops – par-ticularly products with a high-value / low-weight ratio – as a strategy to penetrate global markets. Afghanistan produces crops which hold the potential to reach high-end markets in European countries, such as premium varieties of grapes, pomegranates and mushrooms. However, Afghanistan must first ensure quality and volume of production, as well as im-prove food safety compliance, to meet standards in highly regulated developed markets.

In support of the Afghan FFV sector, this document aims to serve three purposes :

� Inform stakeholders of recent market trends � Outline the present status of the sector and its challenges � Provide a realistic strategy and PoA.

This Strategy is driven by the following overall vision :

“ Afghan fresh fruits and vegetables : harvesting success in regional

and global market ”To achieve this vision, the Strategy focuses on four strategic objectives.

Strategic objective 1 : Increase the volume of production and improve price competitiveness.

This strategic objective aims to increase volumes of produc-tion, gain cost efficiencies through economies of scale, and consequently improve price competiveness at the regional level.

On the inputs side, the Strategy will seek to improve the availability of domestically produced fertilizers and pesti-cides, because importing them leads to higher production costs and hence less price competitiveness ( particularly vis-à-vis regional competitors ). Moreover, measures to

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[ AFGHANISTAN’S NATIONAL EXPORT STRATEGY / FRESH FRUITS AND VEGETABLES SECTOR 2018-2022 ]

strengthen sector horizontal and vertical coordination will be critical to aggregating and increasing volumes of produc-tion. Additionally, associations will receive technical support to organize their operations collectively, for example, through capacity-building in bulk marketing and collective transport.

Specific measures related to commercial farming and smallholders are evaluated as a part of this strategic ob-jective. Activities to support the expansion of commercial orchards will be implemented in parallel with measures to in-crease smallholders’ productivity. This will be accomplished through training on cultivation best practices in farmer field schools across the country, as well as increasing access to working capital for producers.

Finally, investment in research and development ( R&D ) will be encouraged in several areas, such as improvement of crop varieties and methods to extend the production sea-son. Results of any trials and / or pilot initiatives will be dis-seminated to sector stakeholders.

Strategic objective 2 : Reduce postharvest losses across the value chain by addressing technical and non-technical issues.

As well as challenges related to low productivity and low volumes of production, the sector suffers severe postharvest losses. At the technical level, the Strategy will seek to im-prove the knowledge and implementation of best practices at the different stages of the value chain to increase quality and minimize spoilage of fresh produce by using the existing cold chain infrastructure. At the non-technical level, activities will be geared towards encouraging investment in cold chain infrastructure, including refrigerated trucks.

Strategic objective 3 : Add value by improving postharvest practices and processing capacities.

This strategic objective will add value to sector outputs through packaging and other forms of value addition. One area of focus will be improving quality and food safety as-surance for sector products. Another critical goal will be to increase domestic capacity to provide high-quality pack-aging products and services, as packaging materials are mainly imported and expensive.

This strategic objective also seeks to increase domes-tic capacity to add value through processing activities, predominantly by substituting imported juices and tomato pastes ( among other products ) with domestically produced versions. To accomplish this goal, the Strategy will look at ways to build a pool of Afghan workers with expertise in food processing ( with a focus on fruit and vegetable processing ).

Strategic objective 4 : Increase the sector’s capacity to enter and sustain relationships in domestic and international markets.

This strategic objective seeks to establish new links with in-ternational markets in order to diminish dependence on the Pakistani market. To achieve this objective, the Strategy will build the capacity of Afghan Government officials in inter-national trade. Another area of focus is market intelligence : how to collect information on key markets systematically and disseminate it to sector stakeholders ( including small-holders ) effectively. Once key markets have been identified, sector enterprises need support to connect to and build relationships with international buyers. The construction of cold storage facilities in key regional markets such as India and the United Arab Emirates ( UAE ) could be one means to support this objective.

Logistics is one component of this objective, while mar-keting and branding are others. Marketing activities must be pursued in order to build a national brand for Afghan FFV in regional and international markets. At present, Afghan FFV have little global visibility ( if any ), while bulk quantities of Afghan produce flow into the Pakistani market with no pack-aging or branding. The overarching goal is to ensure that if someone is eating an Afghan grape ( or any other type of fruit or vegetable ) somewhere in the world, they know that it is a product of Afghanistan.

Figure 1 captures the FFV sector vision and strategic objec-tives.

Photo: EPAA pictures, IMG_0509.JPG

[ EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ]

3

Figure 1 : Fresh fruits and vegetables sector strategy – theory of change

Compete

Vision

‘Afghan fresh fruits and vegetables: harvesting success in regional and

global markets’

1. Increase volumes of production and improve price competitiveness

3. Add value by improving postharvest practices and

processing capacities

2. Reduce postharvest losses across the value chain by addressing technical and

non- technical issues

4. Increase the sector’s capacity to enter and sustain relationships in domestic and

international markets

Increase volumes of production and exports

Decrease postharvest

losses

Optimize time of entry in key

markets

Progressively upgrade the

quality of production

Add value through

packaging and processing activities

Prioritize positioning of

high-value crops in

international markets

A sector poorly connected internationally and struggling to regain competitiveness in domestic and international markets

IMPA

CTST

RATE

GIC

OBJE

CTIV

ESSI

TUAT

ION

ANAL

YSIS

STRA

TEGI

C TH

RUST

SIM

PACT

• Limited domestic availability of critical inputs

• Low productivity and low volumes of production

• Severe postharvest losses• Poor capacity to meet

international safety and quality standards

Connect

• Poor logistics and trade-related infrastructure

• Uncertainty, delays and irregularities in Customs and border procedures

• Inadequate and insufficient packaging services

• Underdeveloped marketing and branding

• Weak market intelligence provision

• Weak coordination among sector stakeholders

Change

• Weak access to working and investment capital

• Limited availability of skilled workers

• Poor investment in R&D• Women are underserved by

support services providers

A sector capable of connecting and competing better, in both quality and price, in existing and new markets

Photo: EPAA

[ TRAJECTORY OF THE GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN AND ENTRY POINTS FOR AFGHAN EXPORTERS ]

5

TRAJECTORY OF THE GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN AND ENTRY POINTS

FOR AFGHAN EXPORTERS

PRODUCT MAP

The FFV sector comprises a wide array of products, which allows for a broad spectrum of applications in both fresh and processed form.

Fresh fruits and vegetablessector

Processed food industry (e.g.

canned, dried,juice, jams)

Unprocessed fresh fruits and

vegetables

Fresh-cut fruits and vegetables

Fresh produce industry

Within the food industry, FFV are sold unprocessed, fresh-cut and as raw material for the processed food industry.

Fresh produce industry

The global fresh food market is a vast industry, which is estimated to grow to 2.4 billion tons by 2021 at an annual growth rate of over 3 % during the forecast period. Within the fresh produce industry, fruits and vegetables are sold to consumers in unprocessed, raw form, without having un-dergone any thermal processing or preservation. In some

cases, minimal value addition is undertaken in the form of peeling, halving, wedging, slicing and trimming.

Processed food industry

The processed food industry encompasses all businesses which alter FFV to create a value added food product for consumption. These products tend to have significantly longer shelf lives than FFV. Primary product categories in this industry include canned fruits and vegetables, juices, jams, and frozen fruits and vegetables.

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HEALTHY OUTLOOK FOR THE GLOBAL FRESH FRUITS AND VEGETABLES INDUSTRY

Global production of fruits and vegetables has experienced sustained growth over the past few years. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations ( FAO ), worldwide production of fruits stood at roughly 965 million tons in 2013, while production of vegetables totalled approximately 1.39 billion tons in the same year. Production growth is largely driven by increases in cultivated land in Asia, particularly China, the world’s largest producer of FFV.

On the demand side, growth in consumption is driven by several factors, including the rise of vegetarianism, substan-tial increases in income and rising urbanization in developing

countries. Income growth and urbanization are correlated with higher rates of fruit and vegetable consumption, which indicates a positive future for the sector as cities grow and incomes rise in many highly populated developing countries.

Demand is also driven by better access to information about healthy eating habits, in addition to campaigns by international and national organizations to promote the con-sumption of FFV. Fresh fruits are the second most common global snack, while vegetables are the third. In the African and Middle Eastern regional markets, consumers rank fresh fruit as their first choice among snack items.

Box 1 : Health benefits of fruits and vegetables consumption

Fruits and vegetables are considered foundational components of a healthy diet, with a recommended minimum daily intake of 400 grams ( excluding potatoes and other starchy tubers ) to help prevent micronutrient deficiencies. According to the World Health Organization International Agency for Research on

Cancer, consumption of fruits and vegetables may lower the risk of contracting cancer. Considering the positive attributes of fruits and vegetables, the FAO and World Health Organization have col-laborated to lead a global initiative to promote the consumption of fruits and vegetables for health.

Source : FAO.

With advancements in logistics and cold storage technol-ogy, the sale of FFV is becoming more globalized. Key dy-namics and trends within the industry are explained below.

Several factors determine prices and influence global trade

A natural trade obstacle in this sector is perishability. Perishability of fresh produce can limit its transport over long distances, although this depends on the shelf life of particu-lar crops. Perishability of the crop and the availability ( or lack thereof ) of cold storage facilities consequently play a ma-jor role in determining trading partners and how goods are delivered to markets. Certain fruits, such as bananas and citrus products, have longer shelf lives and can therefore be shipped by cost-effective sea freight. Other premium-priced fruits can be transported by expensive air freight while still remaining profitable.

In the case of landlocked countries such as Afghanistan, the costs incurred in cross-border FFV trade can have a sig-nificant negative impact on export volumes. Particularly for highly perishable fresh produce, delays at border crossings can undermine trade by increasing transportation costs. This, in turn, leads to higher prices in the market and less

competitiveness. In the worst case scenario, transport and Customs delays can lead to partial or even full loss of ship-ments due to spoilage.

Weather conditions can have a significant impact on the supply side in terms of the volume, quality and availability of farm outputs. This impacts the FFV sector in two ways : ex-treme weather conditions affecting farm yields, and chang-ing seasons that dictate when and where each crop can be cultivated and harvested. Droughts can devastate harvests for years, while heavy rain and / or snowfall can result in crop damage. The seasonality of crops is a driver for counter-season trade between southern and northern hemisphere countries. In the last several decades, improvements in production methods and advances in transport have con-tributed to smoothing out global prices for FFV throughout the year. These advances in technology have also allowed FFV to be shipped to destinations far from the point of origin while still maintaining product quality.

At the demand level, prices are influenced by a variety of elements, including variety, size, brand and ‘organic’ certification ( among other factors ). Demand for competing products, seasonality of supply and changes in consumer preferences also influence prices.


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Significant technology improvements, R&D and innovation are shaping production

Significant investments in R&D are flowing into the FFV sector. Specialized plant breeding companies are constantly developing new fruit and vegetable varieties, with the ob-jective of improving crop resistance to pests and diseases, obtaining higher yields and enhancing quality and taste.

Proliferation of food safety and quality standards requirements, leading to increased vertical coordination

The global FFV supply chain is increasingly buyer-driven, in which buyers determine certain conditions or requirements for fresh produce. As a consequence of the proliferation of food safety and quality standards, there is greater interest in food supply chains and the traceability of raw materials. This has led to an increase in vertical coordination, i.e. ac-tors along the value chain maintaining closer communica-tion and, whenever possible, synchronizing their activities to maximize gains for all parties.

Transparency and traceability requirements in the supply chain will remain high

One of the main global trends for the sector is the increasing consumer demand for transparency and authenticity when it comes to the fresh produce they are buying. Advances in technology and access to information enable greater trans-parency in terms of where and how produce was cultivated and processed. Common information required is place and date of harvesting, production methods and level of adherence to sustainability principles. To satisfy consumer demand for this information, new tools are now available to improve supply chain transparency, from QR codes to traceability apps for smartphones.

While demand for differentiated products is increasing among importers, exposure to branding is still limited for consumers

Compared with other sectors, the FFV sector has limited branding opportunities ( the world-famous ‘Chiquita banana’ being a rare exception ). Nevertheless, retailers in developed markets are increasing their demand for differentiated prod-ucts. In the case of fresh produce, this can entail a particular type of packaging, supplying a premium variety or comply-ing with a specific production certification system, such as fair trade or organic production.

Functional and intelligent packaging to extend the life of fresh products

Packaging not only serves as a marketing tool but also plays a critical role extending shelf life and maintaining the quality and freshness of products : innovations in packaging are continuous, with remarkable contemporary breakthroughs already influencing the industry. Innovation in packaging is

expected to continue, ranging from higher development and use of bio-packaging materials to the inclusion of even more specific sensors to measure real-time shelf life. Additionally, convenience is a key factor to consider for packaging of fresh products, as lifestyles are becoming faster-paced. Consumers increasingly demand food in suitably portioned ‘grab and go’ sizes as snacks. Tailored portions such as do-it-yourself fresh packs ( selected ingredients to complete a recipe ) are also becoming more popular.

Digitalization is also reaching the fresh produce market through new distribution channels

In large markets such as the UAE, European countries, and particularly China, online sales of FFV are expected to in-crease. Although selling fresh produce online is challenging for businesses, large firms and even digital platforms out-side the sector are investing in developing their e-commerce services and making deliveries, particularly in cities with concentrations of high-income consumers. Massive tech-nology companies such as Google and Amazon are already offering these services to consumers in joint ventures with grocery partners such as Whole Foods.

Increased interest of consumers in ‘super fruits’

There is increasing global interest in so-called ‘super fruits’, an informal label for fruits that have significant potential to benefit health owing to their high content of vitamins, an-tioxidants, polyphenols and other beneficial nutrients. An increasingly popular ‘super fruit’ is the pomegranate, which grows widely in southern Afghanistan. Although consump-tion of ‘super fruits’ is on the rise, this type of fruit is mostly purchased by relatively wealthy consumer groups and spe-cialized import companies.


8


Box 2 : Powerful pomegranates : a rising super fruit

Pomegranates are considered super fruits because they have several health-related attributes. Pomegranates are packed with antioxidants, with almost three times the total antioxidants present

in green tea. Health benefits associated with pomegranates in-clude a boost in resistance to viruses and tumours, in addition to being an excellent source of vitamins and folic acid.

The popularity of organic FFV products will remain high

Important markets for certified ‘organic’ products are Switzerland, Germany and France, among other developed markets. The organic market is still considered a niche, al-though it is expected to grow in the future. Consumption of organic products is driven by health benefits as well as better taste. Notably, demand for organic produce in the European market often exceeds supply, which creates

opportunities to find buyers and profit from better margins. Nevertheless, European regulations for organic produce can be challenging for agricultural enterprises in developing countries. As for super fruits, the organic market is of par-ticular importance within the high-end market. Accordingly, premium prices are paid for exotic, high-quality organic fruits and vegetables that are valued both for their taste as well as the wholesome narrative attached to the product.

Box 3 : Implications for Afghanistan

• The position of Afghanistan can improve, particularly at the regional level, as the number of middle- and high-income consumers continues growing in emerging neighbouring economies.

• Packaging is crucial for Afghanistan, not only for marketing but also to extend the shelf life of fresh produce.

• Investments in R&D and technological improvements are oc-curring in all regions. Emphasis on obtaining higher yields and optimizing the use of water should be the focus of technology investments in Afghan fruits and vegetables production.

• As food safety and quality standards requirements become more important for more markets each day, Afghan exporters will need to improve their ability to meet these requirements in order to diversify their export destinations.

• New sourcing strategies, such as joint ventures with interna-tional buyers, should be considered and incentivized.

• Afghan exporters can benefit from the rising popularity of certain fruits – such as pomegranates – by promoting their health benefits through marketing.

• The niche organic market is expected to grow in the future, as organic products are increasingly appealing to high-income consumers. Many Afghan FFV would likely qualify to be certi-fied ‘organic’ if the administrative capacity existed for them to undergo the rigorous certification process. Nonetheless, it should be noted that it requires 2–3 years to obtain organic certification, in addition to targeted financial investment.


9

EMERGING ECONOMIES ARE GAINING GROUND AS SUPPLIERS IN GLOBAL MARKETS

Figure 2 : World exports of fresh fruits and vegetables, 2005–2016 ( US $ thousands )

90.000.000

80.000.000

70.000.000

60.000.000

50.000.000

40.000.000

30.000.000

20.000.000

10.000.000

-

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

Source : ITC.

Worldwide, exports of FFV exceeded US $ 76 billion in 2016, almost double their value in 2006 ( US $ 43 billion ). This de-velopment reflects a greater awareness of the health ben-efits of FFV consumption among consumers, as well as an increase in demand from developing countries.

In terms of global leaders in the export of FFV, Spain is at the top. Spain possesses a sunny, warm climate, which is suitable for the cultivation of a wide range of produce. Spain accounted for 14 % of world exports in 2016, worth US $ 10.8 billion. The Netherlands is the second-largest exporter of FFV, with 2016 exports reaching US $ 7 billion and represent-ing 9.25 % of global exports in the sector. The Netherlands is itself a modest producer and primarily serves as a re-export hub in the European region. The third-largest exporter of FFV is the United States of America, which actually experi-enced negative average annual growth between 2012 and 2016. The United States recorded an export value of US $ 6.6 billion in 2016 : 8.6 % of global exports for the sector.

Right behind the leaders from developed markets are China and Mexico, two emerging economies with steadily increasing global export share. Between 2012 and 2016, China’s FFV exports grew at an annual average of 11.90 %, with Mexico’s FFV exports growing by 9.04 % during the same period. Italy, France and Belgium are other large European exporters of FFV after Spain, with global export

shares of 5.36 %, 3.32 % and 2.54 % respectively. At the bot-tom of the leader board for FFV exports are South Africa and New Zealand.


10


Table 1 : Main world exporters of fresh fruits and vegetables

Exporters Exported value in 2016 ( US $ thousands ) Annual growth 2012–2016 ( % ) Share in world imports ( % )

Spain 10 763 828 1.24 14.06

Netherlands 7 077 683 -1.58 9.25

United States 6 615 307 -1.17 8.64

China 6 334 139 11.90 8.28

Mexico 6 195 858 9.04 8.09

Italy 4 106 362 -0.78 5.36

Chile 3 652 153 2.09 4.77

France 2 542 074 -1.51 3.32

South Africa 2 205 638 2.92 2.88

Belgium 1 946 316 1.17 2.54

New Zealand 1 894 507 9.97 2.48

Source : ITC.

The forces driving global trade of FFV vary largely by prod-uct, and it is therefore difficult to make generalizations. Although interregional trade has increased over the years, leading suppliers of fresh produce still tend to export to mar-kets in close proximity. This can be explained, in part, by the perishable nature of fresh produce and the existence of regional trade agreements.

Spain mainly ships its products to other European mar-kets, namely Germany, France, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Netherlands and Italy. Similarly, the Netherlands has buyers in Germany, the United Kingdom, Belgium, France and Norway. The Netherlands is notably a direct importer of fruits and vegetables from de-veloping countries for re-export within the European region. Over 50 % of America’s exports of FFV go to neighbour-ing Canada, and 8.8 % go to neighbouring Mexico. China primarily exports FFV to Viet Nam, Thailand, Hong Kong ( China ), the Russian Federation and Malaysia. The fifth-largest global exporter, Mexico, mainly ships to the United States, which accounts for a whopping 97.6 % of Mexican fresh produce exports.

Figure 3 : Main trade partners of the largest world exporters

SpainUS$10.8 billion

• Germany 27%• France 16.8%• UK 14.2%• Netherlands 8.2%• Italy 5.2%

NetherlandsUS$7.1 billion

• Germany 37.3%• UK 12.9%• Belgium 6.9%• France 4.8%• Norway 3.6%

United StatesUS$6.6 billion

• Canada 53.8%• Mexico 8.8%• Rep. of Korea 5.3%• Japan 4.9%• Chinese Taipei 4.4%

ChinaUS$6.3 billion

• Vietnam 18.8%• Thailand 15.6%• Hong Kong (China) 14.8%• Russian Fed 8.6%• Malaysia 8.5%

MexicoUS$6.2 billion

• United States 97.6%• Guatema 0.7%• Canada 0.5%• Japan 0.3%• UK 0.1%

Source : ITC.



11

DEMAND HAS INCREASED IN ALL REGIONS, PARTICULARLY IN THE EUROPEAN AND ASIAN MARKETS

Consumption of FFV increased in all regions of the world over the last decade. The fastest growth occurred in Asia, where imports have almost quadrupled since 2006. American demand for fresh produce has almost dou-bled within the past 10 years, with imports of FFV top-ping US $ 20.5 billion in 2016. As a regional bloc, Europe

consistently recorded the highest demand for fresh pro-duce between 2006 and 2016, with imports reaching US $ 32.5 billion in 2016. An emerging market for the fresh produce sector is the Middle East, where imports of FFV reached US $ 4.8 billion in 2016, four times what they were in 2006.

Figure 4 : Imports by world region, 2006 and 2016 ( US $ thousands )

45.000.000

40.000.000

35.000.000

30.000.000

25.000.000

20.000.000

15.000.000

10.000.000

5.000.000

-Europe

Imported value in 2006 Imported value in 2016

Asia Americas MiddleEast

Africa Oceania

Source : ITC.

Global trade of FFV is dominated by three main regions : Europe, North America and Asia. Traditionally, trade of FFV has been predominately intraregional, although this is less and less the case with each passing day. A wide array of factors contribute to the expansion of fresh produce trade outside of regional blocs, such as an increased number of trade agreements, as well as better technology which has enabled shipments of produce to markets that were previ-ously unreachable due to the perishability of produce.

In the not so distant past, the offerings in the fresh pro-duce section of American and European grocery stores were dictated by the seasonality of crops. Now grocery stores in developed markets offer a full selection of FFV year-round thanks to advancements in greenhouse technology as well as imports from the southern hemisphere ( which experienc-es summer while the United States and Europe are in the middle of winter ). Demand for tropical fruits, particularly ba-nanas, has contributed to a substantial increase in the vol-ume and variety of fruits and vegetables traded worldwide.

Photo: Fruits & Vegetables, FOX20234.jpg

12


A CLOSER LOOK AT DEMAND IN REGIONAL MARKETSConsidering Afghanistan’s deficiencies in transport capac-ity and cold chain infrastructure, and its landlocked posi-tion in Central Asia, markets in close geographic proximity hold the most significant opportunities for increasing ex-ports in the short and medium terms. These target markets are the Middle East,1 South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation countries,2 Central Asian Republics,3 greater China,4 the Russian Federation and Belarus.

The Russian Federation accounts for almost 4 % of glob-al exports of FFV. Imports of fresh produce to the Russian Federation have decreased since 2012, predominantly be-cause of the Russian ban on imports of produce originat-ing from the EU and Turkey. Roughly 19 % of the Russian Federation’s fresh produce imports are citrus fruits, which are difficult to grow in the country due to unsuitable climate conditions. Tomatoes are the second most imported fresh produce product, accounting for 15 % of the Russian fresh produce import basket. Fresh apples, oranges, grapes and pears are also imported in significant volumes.

In contrast with the Russian Federation, China’s imports of FFV are growing in value. Imports have increased at an average annual rate of 11.97 % over the past five years, reaching a total import value of US $ 3 billion in 2016. Strong economic and population growth is responsible for this positive trend. The main product imported by China for this sector is cherries, representing 26 % of total fresh produce imports. Pomegranates, grapes, kiwifruit, apples and plums also represent a significant portion of China’s import bas-ket of fresh produce. China has little need to import fresh

1.– Bahrain, Egypt, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, the State of Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, UAE, Yemen.2.– Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka.3.– Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan.4.– Mainland China, Hong Kong ( China ), Macau, Chinese Taipei.

vegetables, which are produced locally in sufficient quanti-ties to satisfy domestic demand.

Hong Kong ( China ) is another target market for Afghan fresh produce, and serves as a major re-export hub in Asia. Hong Kong ( China ) imported US $ 2 billion of FFV in 2016, including US $ 0.5 billion in cherries alone. Most of these cherries ( estimated to be around 65 % ) end up being re-exported to mainland China. After cherries, Hong Kong ( China )’s second-largest import is grapes, accounting for 22 % of total imports. Other notable imports include orang-es, apples and pomegranates. Similarly to mainland China, Hong Kong ( China ) predominantly imports fruits rather than vegetables.

Belarus, located north of Ukraine in Eastern Europe, is a hot market for FFV. Average annual growth in imports of fresh produce to Belarus increased at a remarkable average annual rate of 46.12 % between 2012 and 2016. This demand is driven by rapid economic growth after a period of financial distress that ended in 2000 and an EU ban on imports of Russian agricultural products, which has converted Belarus into a – temporary – major entry point to the EU market for FFV. Belarus imported US $ 1.3 billion in FFV in 2016.

Other markets of interest are located in the Middle East, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Egypt. All of these countries are experiencing stable growth in fresh pro-duce imports due to increases in population. In East Asia, Chinese Taipei is an enticing destination : imports of FFV increased by an average annual rate of 12.53 % between 2012 and 2016. In South Asia, the Indian market offers sig-nificant opportunities as a destination for fresh produce, with an impressive average annual growth rate of 9.98 % between 2012 and 2016.

Looking at this list, it is apparent that Afghanistan has considerable options when it comes to high-growth destina-tion markets for FFV. The main challenge is getting Afghan produce to these target markets with minimal spoilage, re-lying on ground and sea transport and being subjected to procedures at multiple border control points.

Table 2 : Reachable import markets’ imports

Reachable import markets Imported value in 2016 ( US $ thousands ) Annual growth 2012–2016 ( % ) Share of world exports ( % )

Russian Federation 3 193 724 -15.25 3.93

China 3 152 151 11.97 3.88

Hong Kong ( China ) 2 057 114 7.82 2.53

Belarus 1 253 651 46.12 1.54

UAE 1 188 789 2.64 1.46

Saudi Arabia 1 120 530 6.49 1.38

Chinese Taipei 793 621 12.53 0.98

Kuwait 475 661 9.32 0.59

Egypt 393 029 8.72 0.48

India 356 102 9.98 0.44

Source : ITC.


13

MAIN REGIONAL IMPORTERS OF FRESH FRUITS AND VEGETABLES

Fresh grapes

Grapes are the single largest export for Afghanistan across all sectors. In terms of the previously identified target mar-kets, China is the largest importer of grapes, with US $ 630 million in imports in 2016. Chinese demand for grapes has increased at an average annual rate of 3 % over the past five years. At present, the Chinese are predominantly im-porting grapes from Chile, Peru and Australia, all of whom benefit from easy access to sea shipping. These three coun-tries have increased their production and improved their

positioning by entering the market at times of low supply and high prices.

Hong Kong ( China ) is the second-largest importer of fresh grapes among the target markets. Growth in demand from Hong Kong ( China ) exceeded even that of mainland China, with 13 % average annual growth in grape imports be-tween 2012 and 2016. With US $ 460 million in grape imports, Hong Kong ( China ) accounts for 5 % of the global import share. The Russian Federation and the UAE are other coun-tries experiencing high growth rates in terms of demand for grapes. Belarus is another target market for Afghan grapes, with US $ 96 million in grape imports in 2016. However, de-mand for grapes in Belarus declined rapidly between 2012 and 2016.

Table 3 : Reachable markets’ imports of fresh grapes

Fresh grapes

Reachable importersImported value in 2016 ( US $

thousands )Annual growth

2012–2016 ( % )Share of world imports ( % )

China 629 772 3 7

Hong Kong ( China ) 459 945 13 5

Russian Federation 184 646 6 2

Belarus 95 637 -23 1

UAE 84 833 49 1

Source : ITC.

Fresh apples

Apples are an important export product for the Afghan FFV sector. Among the target markets identified earlier in this section, the Russian Federation imports the largest quan-tity of apples. Overall, the Russian Federation accounts for 5 % of all global imports of apples, with US $ 370 million in imports in 2016. Since 2012, though, Russian demand for apples has decreased at an average annual rate of 17 %. Egypt is another significant importer of apples among the

target markets, with imports reaching US $ 329 million in 2016. Egypt has seen demand for apples grow over the last five years, at an average annual rate of 9 %. One of the target markets with the fastest growth in demand for ap-ples is Belarus, with average annual growth of 47 % between 2012 and 2016. In 2016, apple imports to Belarus reached US $ 309 million. Chinese Taipei and India are also worth mentioning as target destination markets for apples, holding world import shares of 4 % and 3 %, respectively.

Table 4 : Reachable markets’ imports of apples

Fresh apples

Reachable importersImported value in 2016 ( US $

thousands )Annual growth

2012–2016 ( % )Share of world imports ( % )

Russian Federation 370 430 -17 5

Egypt 329 147 9 4

Belarus 308 582 47 4

Chinese Taipei 274 745 14 4

India 237 800 5 3

Source : ITC.

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Melons ( melons and watermelons )

Middle Eastern countries such as the UAE and Kuwait are important export destinations for melons ( both mel-ons and watermelons ). The UAE recorded US $ 43.7 mil-lion in melon imports in 2016, with Kuwait importing US $ 30.9 million the same year. Both markets have seen negative growth in melon imports since 2012. China is the second-largest melon importer among the target markets, with imports valued at US $ 32.8 million in 2016.

Demand from China is decreasing, though, with negative average annual growth of 15 % over the past five years. Hong Kong ( China ) is the fourth-largest melon importer on the target list, with average annual growth increas-ing at a rate of 7 % between 2012 and 2016. Imports of melons to Hong Kong ( China ) stood at US $ 25 million in 2016. The Russian Federation is another notable melon importer to Afghanistan’s north, although demand has de-creased at an average annual rate of 13 % over the last five years.

Table 5 : Reachable markets’ imports of melons and watermelons

Melons ( melons and watermelons )

Importers Imported value in 2016 ( US $ thousands ) Annual growth 2012–2016 ( % ) Share of world imports ( % )

UAE 43 712 -1 1

China 32 806 -15 1

Kuwait 30 951 -2 1

Hong Kong ( China ) 24 993 7 1


Source : ITC.

Other fruits ( including pomegranates )

Pomegranates are grouped into an ‘other’ Harmonized System ( HS ) code ( 081090 ). Therefore, official import statistics specific to pomegranates are not available. The best-consolidated market for pomegranates worldwide is the European market. However, demand in Asia and the Middle East ( particularly the UAE ), is slowly growing, thanks to greater consumption of both unprocessed pomegranates and pomegranate juice. Asian demand for pomegranates is concentrated largely in Hong Kong ( China ), Indonesia, India ( also a large producer ), Malaysia and Japan, due to increas-ing awareness of the health benefits of this ‘super fruit’.5

5.– Prospectiva 2020 ( 2015 ). World Pomegranate Market : Supply, Demand and Forecast.

Onions

Saudi Arabia is the largest importer of onions among the target markets, with a 5 % share of global onion imports. The volume of Saudi onion imports has increased at an average annual rate of 7 % since 2012. After Saudi Arabia, the UAE is the second-largest importer of onions in the region, with imports valued at US $ 76 million, representing 2 % of world import share. Bangladesh is another target market with high growth in onion imports. Bangladeshi imports of onions in-creased at an average annual rate of 43 % between 2012 and 2016. In 2016, Bangladesh imported US $ 58 million of onions. The Russian Federation and Sri Lanka are two ad-ditional large importers of onions among the target markets. While Russian onion imports declined at an average annual rate of 15 % over the last five years, imports to Sri Lanka increased by 14 % during the same period.

Table 6 : Reachable markets’ imports of onions

Onions

Reachable importers Imported value in 2016 ( US $ ) Annual growth 2012–2016 ( % ) Share of world imports ( % )

Saudi Arabia 149 649 7 5

UAE 75 740 5 2

Bangladesh 58 114 43 2


Sri Lanka 55 614 14 2

Source : ITC.


15

Tomatoes

The Russian Federation accounts for 38 % of global imports of tomatoes, although this figure may decline in the future considering the negative growth in demand. Belarus, on the other hand, is a fast-growing export destination for to-matoes, with average annual growth in imports of 51 % be-tween 2012 and 2016. Total Belarusian imports of tomatoes hit US $ 217 million in 2016. The UAE, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are other high-potential target export destinations for Afghan tomatoes, as all of these countries have been expe-riencing positive average annual import growth rates over the last five years. Their shares of global tomato imports are 10 %, 9 % and 8 % respectively.

Table 7 : Reachable markets’ imports of tomatoes

Tomatoes

Reachable importers Imported value in 2016 ( US $ ) Annual growth 2012–2016 ( % ) Share of world imports ( % )


Belarus 216 831 51 17

UAE 124 869 6 10

Pakistan 120 746 1 9

Saudi Arabia 99 394 9 8

Source : ITC.

REGIONAL COMPETITORS POSE CHALLENGES IN BOTH DOMESTIC AND TARGET MARKETS

Islamic Republic of Iran

Due to similar climate conditions, the Islamic Republic of Iran and Afghanistan have a similar export basket when it comes to FFV. Further heightening competition, both countries harvest each competing crop at the same time of the year, while also looking for buyers in the same target markets within the region. With total fresh produce exports valued at US $ 225 million, the Islamic Republic of Iran is a significant player in the global FFV market, with global and regional clout likely to increase in the future. Impressively, Iranian exports of fresh produce have doubled in the past 10 years. The Islamic Republic of Iran has over 50 million hectares of land suitable for agriculture, with low prices of FFV achieved through both industrial-scale farming and cur-rency depreciation.

The main Iranian export destinations in 2016 were the Russian Federation ( US $ 157 million ), Kuwait ( US $ 22 million ), Pakistan ( US $ 8 million ) and Oman ( US $ 8 million ). The most

significant Iranian fresh produce exports were cucumbers ( US $ 65 million ), kiwifruit ( US $ 56 million ), watermelons ( US $ 19 million ), grapes ( US $ 14 million ) and apples ( US $ 13 million ).

The Islamic Republic of Iran exported US $ 14 million of fresh grapes to world markets in 2016. The largest importer of Iranian grapes was the Russian Federation ( US $ 12 mil-lion ) followed by Pakistan ( US $ 1.7 million ). Although Afghan grapes are still much higher in value than Iranian grapes, the latter are continuously gaining market share in Pakistan, having gained price competitiveness, and pose a threat to Afghan grape exports in this market in the future.

The Islamic Republic of Iran is also a leading exporter of pomegranates. Both Afghanistan and the Islamic Republic of Iran export pomegranates to Pakistan, although Iranian exports to this market are larger. Similarly to exports of grapes, the Islamic Republic of Iran is slowly increasing its share of pomegranate exports to Pakistan. When it comes to Iranian apples, again, the main export destination mar-ket is Pakistan, with an export value of US $ 6 million. In this


16


product category, Afghanistan severely outperforms its neighbour to the west, with US $ 26 million in apple exports to Pakistan in 2016.

However, the Islamic Republic of Iran is better positioned than Afghanistan to export processed fruits and vegeta-bles, having invested considerable resources in advanced processing technology. Afghanistan is a major importer of Iranian fruit juices, tomato paste and pickled vegetables, for example. Domestically produced Afghan processed foods are simply not able to compete with their Iranian competitors on quality, and often Afghan products cannot even beat their Iranian counterparts on price.

Enabling factors Deterring factors

• Growth in production and exports of fresh produce

• Suitable climate for cultivation of FFV• Growth in the processed food sector• Competitiveness partly based on currency

depreciation

• Threat of renewed sanctions

• Political instabil-ity negatively affecting export stability

• Absence of a NES

Turkey

Turkey reported total FFV exports valued at US $ 1.5 billion in 2016, almost double its exported value in 2006. However, droughts and other negative climate conditions have af-fected Turkey’s agricultural production. In response, the Turkish Government implemented policies to support the agricultural sector, which have yielded positive results and higher fresh produce exports. Turkish Government support has taken the form of organic farming policies, certification of seeds and seedlings, investment incentives, agricultural credits and other measures.

In 2016, the top export destinations for Turkey’s fresh produce were Iraq ( US $ 279 million ), the Russian Federation ( US $ 234 million ), Germany ( US $ 170 million ), Ukraine ( US $ 115 million ) and Belarus ( US $ 105 million ). The main Turkish export varieties were mandarins ( US $ 322 million ), tomatoes ( US $ 240 million ), cherries ( US $ 182.5 million ), or-anges ( US $ 180 million ) and grapes ( US $ 104 million ).

Tomatoes are one of the most important products for both the Turkish and Afghan fresh produce export basket. Top ex-port destinations for Turkish tomatoes were Belarus ( US $ 42 million ), Iraq ( US $ 32 million ) and Saudi Arabia ( US $ 27 mil-lion ). Turkey is the main supplier of tomatoes to the Belarusian market, with Afghanistan far behind in export volumes.

Turkish and Afghan grapes also compete in the Belarusian market, although Afghan traders lag far behind their Turkish counterparts. In 2016, Turkey exported US $ 26 million in grapes to Belarus, while Afghan traders supplied a mere US $ 716,000 in the same year.

Turkey is the third-largest exporter of ‘other fruits’ ( the HS category that includes pomegranates ) with exports val-ued at US $ 104 million in 2016. Belarus is the main Turkish destination for this category in the region. Afghanistan only recently accessed the Belarusian market, with significantly smaller export volumes.


• Great diversification in exported varieties and export destinations

• Strong, established ties with buyers in export destinations

• Stable, high volume of supply• Support schemes through the

Government to boost exports in the agricultural sector

• Unstable quality ( has had shipments rejected in Western markets due to unsafe levels of pesticides and / or insecticides )

Pakistan

Pakistan exported US $ 213 million of FFV in 2016. Despite security issues and an energy crisis, the fresh produce sec-tor has shown impressive growth over the past 10 years, with total exports for the sector tripling in value. The signifi-cant increase in export volume can be attributed to several factors, including stricter policies regulating produce quality, as well as increasing price competitiveness.

Pakistan’s main export destination for fresh produce in 2016 was the Russian Federation ( US $ 87 million ), followed by Indonesia ( US $ 20 million ), Sri Lanka ( US $ 19 million ), Saudi Arabia ( US $ 15.5 million ) and Malaysia ( US $ 13.5 mil-lion ). A 2005 free trade agreement between Pakistan and Sri Lanka grants Pakistan preferential market access in the form of tariff concessions. Malaysia is an important export destination for Pakistan, especially for vegetables. Again, a preferential trade agreement bolstered Pakistani exports in the sector, as a result of the 2008 Malaysia–Pakistan Closer Economic Partnership Agreement. Middle Eastern countries – namely Saudi Arabia, Kuwait ( US $ 9 million ), Bahrain ( US $ 8 million ) and Oman ( US $ 5 million ) – are all rapidly increasing their demand. Pakistani FFV exporters have also built trade ties with Central Asian countries such as Kazakhstan ( importing US $ 12 million of Pakistani fresh produce in 2016 ).

More than half of Pakistani exports of fresh produce are mandarins, which grow exceptionally well in Pakistan’s warm and dry climate. Potatoes are the second most ex-ported product for the sector, representing about a quarter of Pakistan’s fresh produce export basket. Onions, ‘other fruits’ ( which includes pomegranates ), mushrooms, oranges and melons fill out the rest of Pakistan’s fresh produce ex-port basket.

Due to smuggling along the Afghan-Pakistani border, it is likely that a large amount of Afghan fresh produce entering Pakistan is undocumented. When it comes to potatoes and onions, Pakistan is likely acting partially as a re-exporter, bolstering exports of its own domestically cultivated yields with cheap ( and often smuggled ) Afghan produce. Pakistan is consequently able to be a major supplier of these prod-ucts to its trade partners in the Middle East and South Asia.

Pakistan and Afghanistan compete on the Belarusian market in the mushroom trade. According to reported ex-port data, Pakistan supplied Belarus with US $ 1.7 million in mushrooms in 2016, with Afghanistan leading its neighbour with exports of US $ 2 million in the same year. For both


17

countries, Belarus is the only export destination for mush-rooms, creating dependence on this market.


• Established export network for FFV• Re-exporting hub for Afghan fresh

vegetables• Free trade agreements with Sri Lanka

and Malaysia benefit exports of fresh produce

• Diversified export destinations• Diversified export basket of FFV• Effort of Government to improve quality

of exported FFV• Price competitive

• Security issues negatively affect exports

• Energy crisis• Unfavourable exchange

rate fluctuation• Dominance of Afghanistan

in fresh fruit exports

India

As with Pakistan, Indian exports of FFV have nearly tripled in value over the past 10 years. In 2016, total fresh produce ex-ports out of India verged on US $ 1 billion, reaching US $ 992 million. India’s main export destinations for fresh produce in 2016 were the UAE ( US $ 181 million ), the Netherlands ( US $ 102 million ), Malaysia ( US $ 84 million ), Bangladesh ( US $ 81 million ) and Nepal ( US $ 70 million ). Onions were the most valuable product within the Indian FFV export basket, with 2016 exports standing at US $ 382 million. Other notable Indian fresh produce exports include grapes ( US $ 219 mil-lion ), other fruits including pomegranates ( US $ 81 million ), tomatoes ( US $ 59 million ) and potatoes ( US $ 59 million ).

Nearly all Indian tomato exports were destined for Pakistan ( 99 % ), with India responsible for 70 % of all Pakistani tomato imports. India and Afghanistan are therefore in direct competition when it comes to sup-plying Pakistan with tomatoes. While it may appear that Afghanistan is being sorely outperformed by India in this market, undocumented ( i.e. smuggled ) tomatoes cross-ing the Afghan-Pakistani border may make the competition closer than it appears in available data.


• Suitable climate for FFV cultivation• High production volumes• Large variety of products in the sector• Proximity to countries with rapid

economic and population growth

• Growing domestic demand may stunt export volumes

• Lack of technological advancement in harvesting and an underdeveloped supply chain

China

In 2016, China was the fourth-largest exporter of FFV world-wide. For this sector alone, total exports in 2016 reached US $ 6 billion. Chinese exports of fresh produce have expe-rienced phenomenal growth in the past 10 years, with total value increasing by a factor of five. South Asian countries – including Japan and the Republic of Korea – accounted for much of that volume, with the Russian Federation another major destination market.

The Kazakh market was also an important export des-tination for both Afghanistan and China, although again Afghan exporters were wildly outperformed. China ex-ported US $ 140 million of fresh produce to Kazakhstan in 2016, with Afghan exports nowhere close ( US $ 39,000 in the same year ).

Afghanistan directly competes against China in the Indian market, although Afghan trade volume is dwarfed by that of China ( US $ 4 million in 2016 from Afghanistan compared with US $ 122 million from China ). Over 70 % of China’s exports of FFV to India were fresh apples, although India also receives shipments of Chinese pears and grapes. China is the main supplier of fresh grapes for India, and the third-largest supplier in the world after the United States and Peru.


• High production volumes• Continuous growth in sector exports• One of the most powerful suppliers of FFV

in the South Asian region

• Increasing domestic demand may slow growth in sector exports

• Poor reputation for quality

Box 4 : Implications for Afghanistan

• Considering Afghanistan’s landlocked geography, weak logis-tics capacity and deficient transport infrastructure, markets in proximity are crucial for sector exports.

• Although Afghanistan remains highly competitive in the export of grapes, other products such as potatoes and tomatoes ( and tomato-based products ) face increasing price competition from neighbouring countries such as the Islamic Republic of Iran and Pakistan.

• Time of entry is a crucial factor to be considered by Afghan exporters, particularly for achieving higher profit margins. Delaying sales of fresh produce requires strong cold storage capacity, which Afghanistan lacks at the moment.

• Policies by competitor countries aiming to support fresh produce production and exports should be examined and, if relevant, adapted to the Afghan context.

Source: ITC

[ PEELING THE ONION : VALUE CHAIN ANALYSIS OF AFGHANISTAN’S FRESH FRUITS AND VEGETABLES SECTOR ]

19

PEELING THE ONION : VALUE CHAIN ANALYSIS OF AFGHANISTAN’S

FRESH FRUITS AND VEGETABLES SECTOR

CURRENT VALUE CHAIN AND OPERATIONS

PRODUCTION OF FFV

Afghanistan has very few large-scale fruit producers. Key actors are smallholders growing fruits in their own family orchards. The same holds true for the production of vegeta-bles. Farmers usually contract the sale of their crop before harvesting, based on an estimate of the upcoming yield. This practice is necessary for farmers with limited savings, as buyers will often make advance payments to farmers in order to finalize the deal. Few independent farmers have the available cash and transportation resources to take their produce to market themselves, and instead negotiate for optimal prices.

Afghanistan’s most dominant fresh fruit product is grapes, followed by apples and apricots. All three of these fruits are cultivated throughout the country. Cherries are grown in Kabul Province, while citrus fruits flourish in the warmer weather of southern Afghanistan, particularly in the south-eastern provinces of Kunar, Laghman and Nangarhar. Pomegranates are harvested in the southern part of the country, while melons are cultivated in abundance in the northern provinces of Farah, Jawzjan, Faryab, Baghlan and Samangan.

Production of vegetables largely takes place in the prov-inces of Parwan, Kapisa, Nangarhar, Bamyan and Balkh. Tomatoes are grown in plentiful quantities around the north-ern provincial capital of Mazar-e-Sharif, while potato cultiva-tion is concentrated in the provinces of Bamyan, Nangarhar, Panjshir, Parwan, Samangan, Sar-e Pol, Takhar, Uruzgan and Wardak. Onions grow exceptionally well in the warmer climes of Paktia, Herat and Kandahar.

Fresh fruits generally garner higher prices on the market than their dried counterparts. Consequently, farmers and traders focus on pushing most of their fresh fruit stock into the fresh produce market. Approximately 75 % of total farm

production is currently sold on the fresh market, while ex-cess supply is designated for drying or consumed privately. Due to damage and spoilage resulting from rough ground trips in lorries with no refrigeration capacity, an inordinate quantity of fresh produce is lost to spoilage, with much of the remainder losing value due to damage.

The main production inputs needed to cultivate FFV are list-ed below, with a note about their availability in Afghanistan :

� Seeds : high-quality seeds are usually imported ( domes-tic seeds lack quality consistency ) ;

� Fruit tree saplings : some farmers prefer imported sap-lings over domestic saplings, as domestic varieties some-times carry diseases or have other undesirable qualities ;

� Arable land : abundant supply available, although much arable land is unused or underutilized ;

� Row planters : crucial for some vegetable varieties, with limited use at present ;

� Water : scarce in some areas of the country, with irriga-tion systems underdeveloped in many agricultural com-munities ;

� Fertilizers : the majority are imported, with fragmented distribution systems ;

� Pesticides : primarily imported, costly and consequently difficult to access ;

� Labour : abundant unskilled workers, with a limited pool of skilled agricultural experts ;

� Sulphur : used to enhance growth of fruit trees, difficult to access.

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Several inputs that could improve the quality and volume of yields are either not used due to lack of knowledge about their application or are difficult to access due to limited availability. Producers rely heavily on imports of seeds and fruit tree saplings, as the supply of domestically produced saplings is insufficient to meet local demand. Production

is largely undertaken using outdated cultivation methods, which are inefficient and achieve low yields. This can be attributed to limited access to modern machinery, agri-cultural extension services and high-quality inputs, which prevents smallholders from adopting high-tech production methods.

Box 5 : The role of women in the fresh fruits and vegetables sector

Women play a major role in Afghanistan’s agriculture sector. Approximately two-thirds of the female labour force works in this sector at some level. Occupational and vertical segregation is persistent in the country ; women are mostly at the lower levels of the value chain, performing manual labour such as weeding, harvesting and postharvest sorting. Few women own land or have control over the crops they tend. Males dominate most trade-related activities ( e.g. purchasing inputs and negotiating sales of produce ).

Women often manage small orchards and vegetable gardens, either at their homes or at jointly managed smallholdings. Depending on the region, women are able to participate as day labourers picking fruit at their own family farm and neighbouring farms, as well as sorting produce in their homes. Although men negotiate the major bulk sales of produce, in certain regions – such as Badakshan, Baghlan, Daykundi and Bamyan – women do sell vegetables at the market.

PROCESSING OF FFV

Only well-connected farmers sell their FFV directly to lo-cal consumers without the produce passing through any other value chain steps. Fresh fruits are usually stored in a traditional Kishmish Khana ( literally meaning ‘raisin house’ in Persian ), a storage facility to which farmers bring their produce until it is transported to processing facilities or markets farther afield. Regional traders collect FFV either from the Kishmish Khana or directly from smallholders, with non-refrigerated trucks used to move produce from point to point. Only a handful of refrigerated, modern 10-ton trucks are available in Afghanistan.

Traders are responsible for organizing the collected har-vest, employing drivers for collection, and packaging pro-duce for transportation. After the produce is collected from rural smallholders and aggregated at storage points, trad-ers pass on the fresh produce to domestic value addition facilities, where fruits and vegetables are cleaned, graded, sorted and packed. The scarcity of adequate packaging material and crude packing methods lead to excess dam-age during subsequent transport. A small portion of fresh produce yields are sold to domestic food processing enter-prises that produce dried fruits, fruit juices, jams, pickled vegetables, snack foods and other items.



21

DISTRIBUTION

After the processing stage, small and large wholesale hubs ( Mandvi ) serve as collection points for produce in every major urban centre. Afghanistan’s six major urban cen-tres – Kabul, Khost, Mazar-e-Sharif, Herat, Jalalabad and Kandahar – all have Mandvi markets for every type of fresh produce product. Local retailers and export traders will visit the Mandvi in each major city to examine produce and make purchases.

DOMESTIC MARKET

Local retailers in villages and urban centres have several op-tions for stocking up on fresh produce ; they can pick up pro-duce from the closest Mandvi, buy directly from smallholders or make purchases from the closest Kishmish Khana. Fresh fruits popular among Afghan consumers include domesti-cally produced grapes, apricots, apples, almonds, pome-granates, citrus fruits, melons, cherries and plums. Popular fresh vegetables include carrots, cauliflower, cucumbers, eggplants, okra, onions, garlic, peppers and potatoes. The higher the quality of FFV, the higher the price on the do-mestic market.

INTERNATIONAL MARKET

Fresh fruits

Export traders procure their fresh fruits from local farmers, retailers and Mandvi wholesale hubs. They consolidate pro-duce, arrange packaging ( or do it themselves ), and gen-erally sell in bulk quantities to international markets. In the last several years, a limited but growing number of Afghan exporters have developed the capacity to package produce in retail-ready plastic containers. Profit margins vary from product to product but estimates are that grape exports to Pakistan achieve a profit margin of 4 %–16 %.

The main export destinations for Afghan fresh fruits in 2016 were Pakistan ( 91 % of total fruit exports ) and Belarus ( 5.3 % of total exports ). Significantly lower amounts were exported to India, France, Senegal, Kazakhstan, Bahrain and Canada in 2016. In the same year, Afghanistan’s pri-mary export product ( across all sectors ) was grapes, with US $ 72.5 million in export value. The main export destina-tions for Afghan fresh grapes were Pakistan ( US $ 71.5 mil-lion ), Belarus ( US $ 716,000 ) and India ( US $ 133,000 ). Fresh apples were the second most valuable sector export for Afghan traders, with a total export value of US $ 29 million in 2016. As with fresh grapes, the greatest share went to Pakistan ( US $ 18 million ), followed by India ( US $ 1.4 million ), Belarus ( US $ 203,000 ) and Kazakhstan ( US $ 39,000 ). Fresh

melons generated US $ 3.6 million in export sales, while wa-termelons earned Afghan exporters US $ 3 million. The main destinations for melons ( of all types ) were Pakistan, India and Bahrain.

Fresh vegetables

The main export destinations for Afghan vegetables were Pakistan ( 90 % of total vegetable exports ), and Belarus ( 10 % ). Less significant export volumes were shipped to India, Switzerland and France. Tomatoes, with an export-ed value of US $ 17 million, were the top vegetable export from Afghanistan. Of the US $ 17 million in tomato exports in 2016, US $ 16.5 million was generated in sales to Pakistan. After Pakistan, Belarus received US $ 668,000 of tomatoes in 2016. When it comes to onion exports, Pakistan was again the primary destination market, with US $ 8.4 million in imports of Afghan onions in 2016. India was the second-largest destination market for Afghan onions, with a mere US $ 32,000 in export volume. Other top high-value exports include US $ 2.3 million of cucumbers exported to Pakistan, and US $ 2 million of mushrooms sold to Belarus. Potatoes are also an important export from Afghanistan. However, based on desk research and consultations, the reported exported value of potatoes likely underestimates the total value of exports.


22


Figure 5 : Current value chain – fresh fruits in Afghanistan

Fert

ilizer

s

Kish

mis

hKh

ana

for

dryi

ng /

stor

ing

Labo

ur fo

rce

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ited

liter

acy

(abu

ndan

t) /

skills

(sca

rce)

Bags

/ pa

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ing

(e.g

. woo

den

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s

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nal c

ompo

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ed c

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e fr

uit p

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cers

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iona

l com

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arve

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g eq

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ent

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ting

mat

eria

l

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l far

mer

s

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e ga

rden

ers

• M

ixed

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gar

den

with

2-5

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es•

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rt: n

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ng b

eyon

d irr

igat

ion

Casu

al F

arm

ers

• Fo

cus

on fr

uits

, but

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fin

anci

ally

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itted

• Co

mm

ited

field

s

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t far

mer

s (c

omm

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al

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ards

)•

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s on

and

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st in

frui

ts•

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mite

d fie

lds,

tim

e an

d

mon

ey fo

r agr

icul

tura

l inp

uts

Regi

ons

Grap

es: G

row

n ev

eryw

here

in

cou

ntry

(Gha

zni h

as b

ette

r re

gula

tion

for p

rodu

ct)

Appl

es: T

akha

r, Ba

dakh

shan

, Ba

mya

n, P

arw

an, P

anjs

her,

Kabu

l, Lo

gar,

Bam

yan,

Gh

azni

, Pak

tia, W

arda

kAp

ricot

s: B

alkh

, Bam

yan,

Pa

rwan

, May

dan,

War

dak,

Lo

gar,

Kabu

l, Na

ngah

ar,

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shir,

Gha

zni,

Zabu

l, Ka

ndah

arCh

errie

s: A

roun

d Ka

bul

Citru

s: K

unar

, Lag

hman

, Na

ngar

har

Pom

egra

nate

s: S

outh

ern

Afgh

anis

tan

Mel

ons:

Far

ah, J

awzja

n,

Fary

ab

Regi

onal

trad

ers

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re

frige

rate

d tra

nspo

rt,

resp

onsi

ble

for

orga

nizin

g th

e ha

rves

t, em

ploy

ing

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urer

s,

pack

agin

g, e

tc.

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dlem

en

and

villa

ge

leve

l tra

ders

Each

mov

ing

prod

uct s

hort

di

stan

ces.

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ion

with

tran

spor

t un

ions

Furt

her v

alue

add

ition

fo

r pro

cess

ed fr

uit

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oms

offic

e

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ign

reta

ilers

Dom

estic

Val

ue A

dditi

onSm

all a

nd

larg

e w

hole

sale

rs(M

andv

i)M

ain

mar

kets

; Ka

bul,

Maz

ar-e

- Sh

arif,

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st,

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t, Ja

lala

bad

and

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l Re

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rs

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e ad

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n by

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ually

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uct t

o re

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e pa

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w, d

ust

and

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es

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ple

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ning

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s

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ing

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s

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ing

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s

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g fa

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ies

Info

rmal

mar

ket

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al m

arke

t

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estic

ally

co

nsum

ed fr

esh

frui

ts•

Grap

es•

Apric

ots

• Ap

ples

• Po

meg

rana

tes

• Ci

trus

• Ch

errie

s•

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s

Inte

rnat

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l mar

ket

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t sup

ply

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rt tr

ader

s•

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gin

4-16

% fo

r gr

apes

exp

orte

d to

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kist

an•

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olid

ate

prod

uce

and

who

lesa

le to

in

tern

atio

nal m

arke

t•

Act a

s ga

teke

eper

s to

exp

ort

Expo

rted

fres

h fr

uits

• Gr

apes

US$

72.

5 m

illion

• Ap

ples

US$

29

milli

on•

Pom

egra

nate

s US

$ 20

milli

on

• M

elon

s US

$ 3.

6 m

illion

• W

ater

mel

ons

US$

3 m

illion

Top

8 ex

port

de

stin

atio

ns•

Paki

stan

• Be

laru

s•

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ce•

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gal

• Ka

zakh

stan

• Ba

hrai

n•

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da

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uctio

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sem

bly

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essi

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strib

utio

n

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mar

ket

(Gra

pes:

20-

40%

of t

otal

cro

p pr

oduc

tion

dom

estic

ally

con

sum

ed, r

est e

xpor

ted

or p

roce

ssed

to

drie

d go

ods)


23

Figure 6 : Current value chain – fresh vegetables in Afghanistan

Fert

ilizer

s

Labo

ur fo

rce

Lim

ited

liter

acy

(abu

ndan

t) /

skills

(sca

rce)

Bags

/ pa

ckag

ing

(e.g

. woo

den

boxe

s

Natio

nal c

ompo

nent

Mix

ed c

ompo

nent

Inte

rnat

iona

l com

pone

nt

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ng a

nd h

arve

stin

g eq

uipm

ent

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ting

mat

eria

l

Fam

ily-r

un fa

rms

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l to

med

ium

-sca

le fa

rmer

s (m

ajor

ity)

• Cr

op is

con

tract

ed b

efor

e ha

rves

ting,

bas

ed o

n an

es

timat

e of

the

yiel

d•

Farm

ers

have

ver

y lim

ited

barg

aini

ng p

ower

Larg

e-sc

ale

farm

ers

(min

ority

)

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ons

Parw

an, K

apis

aNa

ngah

ar, B

alkh

Tom

atoe

s: s

igni

fican

t in

Maz

ar-e

-Sha

rifPo

tato

es: B

amya

n (7

0%),

Nang

arha

r, Pa

njsh

er, P

arw

an,

Sam

anga

n, S

ar-e

pol

, Tak

har,

Uruz

gan

and

War

dak

Onio

ns: P

aktia

, Her

at,

Kand

ahar

Inpu

t sup

ply

Prod

uctio

nAs

sem

bly

Proc

essi

ngDi

strib

utio

nDo

mes

tic m

arke

t

Regi

onal

trad

ers

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re

frige

rate

d tra

nspo

rt in

sm

all t

ruck

s;

Resp

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ble

for

orga

nizin

g th

e ha

rves

t, em

ploy

ing

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urer

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pack

agin

g, e

tc.

Mid

dlem

en

and

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ge

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ders

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ing

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hort

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with

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ions

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her v

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her p

roce

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ched

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ing

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e

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l and

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rge

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lers

(Man

dvi)

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n m

arke

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l, M

azar

-e-

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if, K

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ually

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rt

dest

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rus

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land

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ance

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nd G

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mat

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hers

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g be

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gre

ens,

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umpk

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ls

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, pea

s)

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rted

fres

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geta

bles

(201

6)•

Tom

atoe

s US

$ 17

m

illion

• On

ions

US$

8.5

milli

on•

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mbe

rs U

S$ 2

.3

milli

on

• M

ushr

oom

s US

$ 2.

0 m

illion

• Po

tato

es*

*Bas

ed o

n de

sk re

sear

ch a

nd

cons

ulta

tions

, rep

orte

d ex

port

ed v

alue

of p

otat

oes

likel

y un

dere

stim

ates

the

tota

l va

lue

of e

xpor

ts

Inte

rnat

iona

l mar

ket

24


MARKET DYNAMICS PROMOTE LOW PRICE RATHER THAN HIGH QUALITY

The marketing chain for FFV involves local and regional traders and wholesalers, as well as national and interna-tional traders and wholesalers. Thousands of middlemen and traders operate at the local level in direct contact with producers. They work independently or for larger traders and wholesalers. Conversely, there are in general few large traders and market aggregators. It is important to highlight that social networks still influence how products are sold and cross borders. These networks are based on ethnic-ity, family relations and cross-border networks. While social networks facilitate informal credit, they may hinder the opti-mization of market opportunities by hampering contractual relations outside of them.

Wholesale markets are highly speculative and prices are rather volatile, which creates risks for sector stakeholders. Moreover, because of the lack of cold storage facilities, marketing of FFV occurs right after harvesting to minimize potential losses. With enormous volumes of fresh produce dumped into the market within a relatively short time frame, FFV are sold by farmers at relatively low prices. Additionally, there is usually little grading of produce, so farmers are not rewarded with better prices for high-quality yields. The natu-ral consequence is that there is a lack of economic incen-tives to improve the quality of production.

SUBSTANTIAL POSTHARVEST LOSSES AFFECT VOLUME AND CONSISTENCY OF PRODUCTION

In Afghanistan, postharvest losses of FFV are substantial, reaching as much as 50 % to 60 % of total production, al-though there is not enough reliable data available in many situations. This deficiency severely degrades the ability of Afghan traders to establish relationships with international buyers, who have three main requirements : shipments of bulk quanitities, consistent supply of produce and consist-ent quality. Besides limiting export potential, loss of produce following the harvest also contributes to food insecurity, es-pecially during Afghanistan’s severe winters. Several issues along the value chain contribute to this problem. They can be categorized as technical and non-technical issues.

On the technical side, farmers’ lack of awareness of and training in best postharvest practices – such as proper handling, sorting and grading of products – are immediate causes of postharvest losses. Farmers’ lack of knowledge of quality standards and food safety issues, packaging and marketing also contribute to fresh produce losses. This lack of awareness and poor training of producers regarding these issues is mainly caused by insufficient and poor provi-sion of agricultural extension services and lack of coordina-tion among sector stakeholders.

On the non-technical side, there are several causes for loss of harvest, mainly related to the weak cold chain infrastructure and low number of refrigerated trucks in the country, which are vital for perishable products such as FFV. Another major issue is poor packaging. The paucity of packaging facilities and packaging input materials are also among the main causes of food spoilage and waste.

Proper packaging of fresh produce can help reduce spoil-age by providing protection from damage during handling, transport and storage.

Access to adequate cold storage facilities is also lim-ited nationally. There are approximately 3,164 cold storages with more than 120 000 metric tons overall capacity in the country. While the current need of cold storage space is cal-culated to be roughly 290 000 metric tons.6 Consequently, produce remains in inappropriate storage conditions for long periods, which affects its shelf life and quality. Low availability of storage facilities also limits households’ ca-pacity to sell produce after harvest, which is when prices are higher. Traditional storage facilities are substandard, be-ing primarily partly underground cellars, which are meant to maintain fruits and vegetables in a cool environment and prevent spoilage. Cellar size varies from small rooms to large spaces. These facilities are a low-cost, easy-to-build alternative to modern storage facilities but humidity and tem-perature are not controlled in these cellars. Therefore, there is a high likelihood of spoilage, as farmers indicate 30–35 % of products spoil once in these cellars.

On the other hand, modern storage facilities with temper-ature and humidity control are expensive to operate for most producers. Investment in storage facilities is partially inhib-ited by the lack of availability and high cost of land in the country. Moreover, land acquisition can be a long process

6.– Office of the Economic Advisor ( 2017 ) : Cold Storage Industry of Afghanistan.


25

in Afghanistan, lasting up to seven years. These modern facilities are also not designed to accommodate smaller quantities, as they lack separate compartments with con-trollable temperatures. Using these storage facilities is thus prohibitively expensive for small firms because they must cover the cost of using the whole space. Another challenge is the difficulty maintaining a constant supply of electricity, which is vital for these facilities. At present, electricity sup-ply is unreliable ( particularly in rural areas ) and expensive.

Finally, lack of refrigerated trucks and poor road infrastruc-ture are also root causes for the substantial postharvest losses in this sector, especially considering that air freight options are limited and costly. Investment in refrigerated transportation has been deterred so far because of the un-certainty of profit margins in current trade, difficulties cross-ing borders for transit trade, and security risks.

Figure 7 : Technical and non-technical causes of postharvest losses in Afghanistan’s fresh fruit and vegetables sector7

Production (100%) Causes of postharvest loss

Harvesting

Sorting, grading and packaging

Storing

Transporting

Total product reaching consumers= 40% to 60%

• Bruising due to improper handling,lack of equipment

• Suboptimal harvesting time

• Improper handling causing bruising • No sorting of produce• Inadequate packaging

• Pests and diseases• Traditional storage lacks ventilation and control

of temperature and humidity• Insufficient modern storage

• Lack of refrigerated trucks• Poor road infrastructure, insufficient airfreight• Delays at borders

Total losses reaching 40% to 60% of production

7.– There are some discrepancies regarding estimated percentages of post-harvest losses. The World Vegetable Center ( 2014 ) estimates post-harvest losses of around 60 % for Afghan vegetables and fruits. See : World Vegetable Center ( 2014 ) “Cutting food losses in South Asia”. Available at : https ://avrdc.org/cutting-food-losses-south-asia/

While other sources indicate 40 % of losses for all agricultural products. See : Office of the Economic Advisor ( 2017 ) “Cold storage industry of Afghanistan”. Available at : http ://afghaneconomics.com/research/rs16.html

https://avrdc.org/cutting-food-losses-south-asia/

http://afghaneconomics.com/research/rs16.html

26


LOGISTICAL CHALLENGES DELAY DELIVERY AND DEGRADE QUALITY

Afghanistan’s landlocked geography and poor road infra-structure pose severe challenges to exporting FFV. This has resulted in weak connectivity with international markets, and even difficulties with distribution within Afghanistan. If border crossings were expedited and refrigerated trucks available, Afghan traders could transport shipments by ground to Karachi Port in Pakistan or the newly inaugurated Chabahar Port in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Afghan fresh produce could then be loaded onto refrigerated cargo ships. At present, though, the Karachi Port option is not particularly appealing, as Afghan shipments face severe challenges re-lated to transit of vehicles through Pakistan.

Not only are delays common at the Afghanistan–Pakistan border due to obstacles created by Pakistani Customs officials but there are also frequent incidences of corruption. Shipments of Afghan FFV are particularly vul-nerable to corrupt officials, as an entire truckload of pro-duce can rot in a matter of days if ‘speed money’ is not paid. Furthermore, Afghan traders have pointed to periodic

border closures initiated by the Pakistani Government, which tend to occur at the height of the postharvest season when millions of dollars of fresh produce stands by to cross the border. The Chabahar Port option may become viable in the future but only time will tell if this trade route will lead to significant increases in exports by sea freight.

One remarkable trade-related development in 2017 was the launch of a dedicated air corridor between Afghanistan and India. A key component of this initiative has been sub-sidized airfares and expedited Customs clearance on the Indian side. At present, 1–2 cargo flights per week fly out of the airports of Kabul and Kandahar, with FFV representing much of the cargo volume.

Despite several positive transport developments in 2017, producers and traders still suffer from the spoilage of their fresh produce due to lack of shipping options. These is-sues translate into higher transportation costs, higher rates of spoilage and less competitive prices of products.

AFGHANISTAN’S CURRENT EXPORT PERFORMANCE

FFV exports accounted for around 21 % of total Afghan ex-ports in 2016, valued at nearly US $ 168 million. Promisingly, sector exports have increased by a factor of seven over the last 10 years. With the addition of more export destinations, the Afghan FFV sector has grown strongly since 2012. In particular, remarkable growth in shipments to India has boosted the fresh produce sector’s export performance.

Figure 8 : Afghan exports of fresh fruits and vegetables, 2005–2016 ( US $ thousands )

200.000180.000160.000140.000120.000100.00080.00060.00040.00020.000

-2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Source : ITC.


27

SURVIVABILITY AND SUSTAINABILITY OF EXPORT RELATIONSHIPSAlthough the sector has been able to achieve impressive export growth, difficulties in maintaining stable export rela-tionships threaten the realization of its full potential, as ex-port relationships have tended to be short-lived. The drop in exports to certain markets after the first year indicates that while buyers were initially pleased with the product, in the medium-term Afghan exporters were not able to effectively respond to buyers’ requirements.

ITC has developed a method to estimate the probability that an export relationship survives after an initial sale takes place. According to ITC calculations for the Afghan FFV sec-tor, the probability of export relationships surviving after the first year is only around 40 %. The probability of maintaining a relationship for five years is only around 10 %. Enterprises will need to improve their ability to maintain stable relation-ships with foreign buyers in the future if export development is to be sustained.

Figure 9 : Probability of export survival for Afghan fresh fruit and vegetable exporters, 2002–2016

1.9.8.7.6.5.4.3.2.10

1 2

Probability of Export Survival, 2002-16Fresh Fruits and Vegetables

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

Prob

abili

ty

Year

Source : ITC.

Afghanistan’s expor t basket has begun to diversify, but limitations remain to diversify destination markets.

Figures 10 and 11 provide a comparison between the sec-tor’s export basket in 2006 and 2016. The figures compare the number of products and the number of markets reached by each variety of fruit or vegetable. The horizontal axis pre-sents the number of markets reached, while the vertical axis shows the value of the export flow ( in logs ). Each dot represents a variety in the export basket of the FFV sector. Red dots appear when the basket contains varieties which existed in 2006 but not in 2016 ( extinct products ). Products which were not exported by Afghanistan in 2006 but were exported in 2016 appear in green ( new products ).

Comparing the two charts, it is clear that Afghanistan’s FFV sector has been able to reach a larger number of markets over the last decade. In 2006, fresh produce only reached a maximum of four export destinations. Ten years later, in 2016, the sector’s products managed to reach up to seven destinations, which indicates greater export reach and diver-sification in export destinations. During this period, Afghan traders have been able to increase the number of products they are able to export, which bodes well for the long-term sustainability of the sector.

28


Figure 10 : Market reach of Afghan fresh produce exports, 2006

10

5

0

-51 2 3 4

Old Products Extinct ProductsNumber of Destinations

Market Reach of ExportsAFG, 2006

Log

Trad

e Va

lue

Figure 11 : Market reach of Afghan fresh produce exports, 2016

10

5

00 2 4 6 8

Old Products Extinct ProductsNumber of Destinations

Market Reach of ExportsAFG, 2016

Log

Trad

e Va

lue

Source : ITC.

Pakistan remains the main expor t destination

Pakistan remained the most important export destination for Afghan FFV throughout the period between 2008 and 2016. Since 2008, Kazakhstan has lost importance as an export destination, with Belarus and India now trailing Pakistan as the second and third most significant export destinations, respectively. Kyrgyzstan was the fourth most important ex-port destination for Afghan fresh produce in 2008 but by 2016 it had been bumped off the top 10 list. During this eight-year period, Afghan traders were able to access a number of new markets in different regions, including France and Switzerland in Europe, Senegal in Africa, Bahrain in the Middle East, Canada in North America and Malaysia in East Asia.

Grapes continue to lead expor ts but other fresh produce is gaining importanceGrapes remain the highest-value item in the Afghan FFV export basket. While grapes were responsible for 83 % of sector exports in 2008, this percentage had dropped to just 43 % by 2016. This change in percentage does not indicate a decline in grape exports ( they are still the number one Afghan export across all sectors ) but rather that Afghan traders are selling a much larger variety of fresh produce than eight years ago. Apples, pomegranates, melons, wa-termelons and tomatoes now stand beside grapes as major sector exports. The overall trend for the sector is that fresh fruits are earning far more in export sales than their fresh vegetable peers.



29

Figure 12 : Afghanistan’s top 10 export destinations for fresh fruit and vegetables, 2008 ( US $ thousands )

35.000

30.000

25.000

20.000

15.000

10.000

5.000

-

Pakis

tan

Kazakh

stan

Kyrgy

zstanInd

iaPo

land

UAEFra

nce

Finlan

d

Ukraine

Camero

on

Figure 13 : Afghanistan’s top 10 export destinations for fresh fruit and vegetables, 2016 ( US $ thousands )

160.000

140.000

120.000

100.000

80.000

60.000

40.000

20.000

-

Pakis

tan

Kazakh

stan

Belarus Ind

ia

Seneg

al

Switzerla

ndFra

nce

Bahrai

n

Canad

a

Malays

ia

Source : ITC.

Figure 14 : Afghanistan sector export basket, 2008

Tomatoes12%

Fresh apples21%

Fresh grapes53%

Pomegranates14%

Figure 15 : Afghanistan sector export basket, 2016

Tomatoes10%

Watermelon2%

Other9%

Melons2%

Onions5%

Fresh apples17%

Fresh grapes43%

Pomegranates12%

Source : ITC.

30


AFGHANISTAN’S LEADING FRESH VARIETIES

FRESH FRUITS

Fresh grapes

Pakistan is the most important export destination for grapes, with 99 % of Afghanistan’s grapes shipped to its southern neighbour. Despite the overwhelming volume of Afghan grapes heading to Pakistan, Afghan traders have made

inroads with grape sales in a number of new markets. These markets include Belarus, France and Senegal. Two other destination markets over the last several years have been India and France, with remarkable export growth in both these countries. Grape exports to India grew at an average annual rate of 91 % between 2012 and 2016, with 43 % an average annual rate growth of grape exports to France dur-ing this same time period.

Table 8 : Afghanistan’s main import markets for fresh grapes

Fresh grapes

Importers Exported value in 2016 ( US $ thousands ) Annual growth ( % ) Share of Afghan exports ( % )

World 72 503 45.81 - / -

Pakistan 71 551 45.00 98.69

Belarus 716 0.99

India 133 91.00 0.18

France 76 43.00 0.10

Senegal 27 0.04

Source : ITC.

Fresh apples

Apple exports stood at US $ 28.9 million in 2016, with av-erage annual growth of 71 % since 2012. The main export destination was Pakistan, where 91 % of apple exports were shipped. India is another significant importer of Afghan ap-ples, with US $ 2.1 million in imports in 2016. Other importers of Afghan apples include Belarus, Senegal and France.

Table 9 : Afghanistan’s main import markets for fresh apples

Fresh apples


World 28 890 71.44 - / -

Pakistan 26 179 67.00 90.62

India 2 140 7.41

Belarus 378 1.31

Senegal 186 0.64

France 7 -6.00 0.02

Source : ITC.

Photo: pixabay, apple-3160533.jpg


31

Melons

Afghan melons only recently joined the sector export basket, with exports valued at US $ 6.6 million in 2016. The primary

export destination was Pakistan, which received 97 % of exported Afghan melons. India and Bahrain were two new export destinations for Afghan melons in 2016.

Table 10 : Afghanistan’s main import markets for fresh melons and watermelons

Melons ( melons and watermelon )


World 6 617 - / - - / -

Pakistan 6 407 25 97

India 199 3

Bahrain 11 0

Source : ITC.

Pomegranates

Although pomegranates do not have an individual HS code and are included under HS code 081090, it is likely that, for Afghanistan, most exports under this code are in fact pomegranates, considering the significant production of this fruit in the country, particularly compared to the other fruits covered under this code.

As with other exported fresh fruits from Afghanistan, Pakistan was the most important export destination for other Afghan fruits including pomegranates. India was the second-largest importer of the variety with a share of 7 % of Afghan exported other fruits, including pomegranates. Other importers were Belarus and Kazakhstan, markets which have only recently become export destinations for this product.

Table 11 : Afghanistan’s main import markets for pomegranates

Other fruits ( including pomegranate )


World 28 890 71.44 - / -

Pakistan 18 062 54.00 91.67

India 1 400 7.11

Belarus 203 1.03

Kazakhstan 39 0.20

Source : ITC.

Photo: comments 9 3 18, pomegranate-58554.jpg

32


FRESH VEGETABLES

Tomatoes

Afghanistan exported US $ 17 million in tomatoes in 2016. Tomato exports have grown rapidly, at an average annual rate of 66 % between 2012 and 2016. The vast majority of tomato exports ( 96 % of total ) were shipped to Pakistan. The remaining 4 % of tomato exports in 2016 were sent to Belarus, with an export value of US $ 668,000.

Table 12 : Afghanistan’s main import markets for tomatoes

Tomatoes


World 17 160 66.07 - / -

Pakistan 16 492 65.00 96.11

Belarus 668 3.89

Source : ITC.

Onions

Afghan onion exports grew at an average annual rate of 6 % between 2012 and 2016, which is comparatively less than other sector products. The total exported value stood at US $ 8.4 million in 2016, with the majority of that amount go-ing to Pakistan. India is a new destination market for Afghan onions, although the export value was a mere US $ 32,000 in 2016 ( less than 1 % of total onion exports ).

Table 13 : Afghanistan’s main import markets for onions

Onions


World 8 432 5.96 - / -

Pakistan 8 400 6.00 99.62

India 32 0.38

Source : ITC.

Mushrooms

Mushrooms are also a promising crop currently being culti-vated, and their production is being encouraged by interna-tional organizations and development partners. It is worth mentioning that they are mainly exported to Belarus ( roughly

US $ 2 million in 2016 ), although this data may be underesti-mated because unrecorded exports to Pakistan have been reported. Afghan mushrooms – mainly dried – are shipped through Pakistan to third countries under the Pakistani trade-mark, after being further processed and packed there.

Photo: comments 9 3 18, By The Photographer (Own work) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons.jpg

Photo: comments 9 3 18, (CC BY 2.0) Mike Licht.jpg


33

‘MUSH’ ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT : A SERIES OF CHALLENGES PREVENTING SECTOR GROWTH

Key issues constraining the sector’s ability to compete / connect / change

The following section analyses sector challenges across three levels – firm capabilities ; institutional and trade support ; and national environment, policy and regulations. Three dimensions of competiveness of Afghanistan export were analysed.

Compete : Issues limiting the sector’s capacity to compete in national and foreign markets. This includes challenges related to access to inputs, productivity, national infrastructure, quality management and complying with standards, among others.

Connect : Issues restraining connectivity to suppliers, markets and clients. This dimension includes challenges related to market information, marketing and trade promotion, branding and trade agreements, among others.

Change : Issues limiting the sector’s capacity to change, innovate and tap into emerging trends. This dimension relates to challenges accessing trained / skilled labour, intellectual property protection, institutional support to innovate, investment promotion and pro-tection, corporate social responsibility and youth and women’s employment, among other issues.

COMPETE

The FFV sector has significant growth and export potential. However, sector competitiveness is currently limited by low levels of production and high postharvest losses, as well as a poor capacity to meet quality and food safety standards in international markets.

Farmers have limited capacity to engage in market-oriented productionWeak dissemination of market information to stakeholders at the production level limits their ability to plan and organ-ize production strategically, based on market prices and demand. Moreover, producers have poor knowledge of fruit varieties that fetch premium prices in foreign markets. Underlying root causes include the near complete absence of information about prices in international wholesale mar-kets, the fragmented nature of the market ( i.e. insufficient producer cooperative structures ), and the lack of commu-nication channels for farmers and traders to coordinate and to exchange market information.

Value chain segment Production

Severity ● ● ● ● ●

PoA referenceActivities 1.4.1. to 1.4.5, 1.7.1 to

1.7.4, 4.1.4

Key operational costs are higher throughout the value chain, making Afghan expor ters less price competitive

The cost of production inputs ( e.g. fertilizers and labour ), are higher in Afghanistan than in regional countries, which nega-tively impacts price competitiveness for Afghan FFV. This weakness is exacerbated by the continuous depreciation of the Pakistani and Iranian currencies, allowing both of these neighbouring countries to sell fresh produce to foreign buy-ers at inordinately low prices. Another obstacle that hurts the price competitiveness of Afghan exporters is the high cost of packaging materials, which again is more expensive to procure for Afghan traders and sector enterprises than their peers in regional countries. Finally, transport costs are high both as a result of Afghanistan’s landlocked geography as well as illegal taxes and bribes in transit and at the borders.

Value chain segment All segments

Severity ● ● ● ● ○

PoA reference Activities 1.3.1 to 1.3.3, 3.5.2, 3.5.3

34


Limited domestic availability of critical inputs constrains growth and quality of productionProduction levels are constrained by the limited availabil-ity and inconsistent supply of critical inputs for production. Domestically produced fruit tree saplings are scarce, which has resulted in producers resorting to more costly imports. The sector is also dependent on imported fertilizers and pesticides, which creates difficulties for producers in terms of access and affordability. Fragmented distribution net-works and weak links to suppliers are underlying root caus-es behind the limited availability of inputs for production. Water for irrigation is another key input, with current irrigation systems outdated or in disrepair, and farmers rarely using specialized technology to optimize use of water.

Value chain segment Inputs / production

Severity ● ● ● ○ ○

PoA reference Activities 1.3.1 to 1.3.3

Low production yields are par tly explained by outdated farming methodsA heavy reliance on outdated production methods cre-ates inefficiencies and limitations in terms of productivity. Explanatory factors behind the limited adoption of advanced cultivation techniques are the lack of knowledge of better production methods and difficulty accessing capital, com-bined with a risk-averse mentality that inhibits reform.

Advanced cultivation methods could be promoted through provision of agricultural extension services, which is currently limited by numerous obstacles. These include the lack of female extension service providers, the low presence of extension agents at the provincial level, insufficient ongo-ing in-service training offered to extension service agents, and difficulty retaining qualified staff due to uncompetitive salaries.

Besides the expertise to use advanced cultivation methods, farmers also need capital to purchase modern machinery and high-quality production inputs. This issue needs to be addressed through institutional support in the form of financial instruments that increase access to capital. With more capital, Afghan farmers can purchase more and better-quality inputs, including high-yield fruit tree saplings, fertilizers, pesticides and planting / harvesting machinery.



PoA referenceActivities 1.4.1. to 1.4.5, 1.5.1

to 1.5.6, 1.6.1 to 1.6.3

Severe postharvest losses are mainly caused by rough handling and weak cold chain infrastructure

Substantial postharvest losses are linked to careless post-harvest handling, a weak cold chain infrastructure and a dearth of refrigerated trucks. As explained in previous sec-tions, the causes of postharvest losses can be catego-rized as technical and non-technical. At the technical level, there are inadequate postharvest practices among value chain actors and poor knowledge regarding cold supply management.

At the non-technical level, low levels of investment ( among other factors ) has resulted in a scarcity of cold storage facilities and refrigerated trucks. Moreover, existing cold storage facilities are frequently not up to international standards, as they lack controls for moisture, temperature and air flow. With few ( if any ) long-term cold storage op-tions, producers and traders are forced to dump their fresh produce into the market as fast as possible, resulting in sub-optimal prices.

Value chain segment Production / distribution


PoA referenceActivities 2.1.1 to 2.1.3, 2.2.1

to 2.2.5

The sector has poor capacity to meet international safety and quality standardsOn the production side, there is poor understanding of qual-ity control and food safety management practices across the value chain. Several factors contribute to lower produce quality, including poor grading and sorting at the farm level, as well as substandard processing and packaging methods. As a result, much of Afghanistan’s fresh produce does not comply with international market requirements.

FFV are often exposed to contaminants in wholesale markets ( e.g. untreated well water ) as well as high levels of moisture that allow bacteria to grow. Moreover, although most production is performed without chemicals such as pesticides, there is no control or enforcement of stand-ards when it comes to chemical residue on fresh produce. Additionally, products are rarely sorted or graded, leaving farmers little incentive to work towards high-quality, premi-um-priced yields.

As a result, noteworthy Afghan fruits such as fresh grapes and apricots are currently considered ‘inadmissi-ble’ to enter the United States market, as per regulations of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Obtaining access to the United States market is a process that usually takes several years.


35

Box 6 : List of fruits and vegetables approved for the United States market

All countries ( no permit required )

• Aloe vera ( above-ground parts )• Bat nut or devil pod ( Trapa bicornis )• Cannonball fruit• Chinese water chestnut• Coconut• Corn smut galls• Cyperus corm

• Edible flowers ( inflorescences only )• Garlic cloves, peeled• Ginger root• Lily bulb ( Lilium spp. )• Maguey leaf• Matsutake• Mushroom

• Palm heart, peeled• Peanut• Pomegranate arils• St. John’s Bread• Singhara nut ( Trapa bispinosa )• Tamarind• Truffle• Water chestnut ( Trapa natans )

Source : United States Department of Agriculture.

Likewise, lack of uniformity in shape and colour of pro-duce, for example, can affect the entrance of certain fruits – such as grapes – to the EU, under the European Specific Marketing Standards regulation. In terms of appearance, in many cases, fruit have irregular sizes and different colours, as well as bruises because of poor packaging. The lack of uniformity is caused by the range of varieties used and the propagation of species being done without grafting, among other reasons.

On the institutional side, there is weak Government ca-pacity to perform phytosanitary and quality control testing. This is mainly due to the extremely limited number of testing

facilities that can confirm that fresh produce meets inter-national standards. Many existing laboratories are poorly equipped and staffed, while other advanced donor-funded laboratories cannot recruit and retain qualified staff due to uncompetitive salary scales. Finally, the traceability of pro-duce – a common requirement for developed markets – is essentially non-existent.



PoA reference Activities 3.2.1, 3.2.2, 3.3.1 to 3.3.5


36


Wea

k di

ssem

ina-

tion

of

mar

ket

info

rmat

ion

Farm

ers

have

lim

ited

capa

city

to

pla

n m

arke

t- or

ient

ed

prod

uctio

n

Key

oper

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nal c

osts

ar

e hi

gher

com

pare

d w

ith th

ose

of re

gion

al

com

petit

ors

Lim

ited

dom

estic

ava

ilabi

lity

of

criti

cal i

nput

s co

nstra

ints

gro

wth

an

d qu

ality

of p

rodu

ctio

n

Usua

l sub

stan

tial

post

harv

est

loss

es

Afgh

an p

rodu

cts

curr

ently

do

not m

eet t

he

qual

ity o

r phy

tosa

nita

ry

stan

dard

s of

maj

or

inte

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iona

l mar

kets

Low

pro

duct

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yiel

ds

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k co

mm

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a-tio

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farm

er-tr

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n

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duct

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cost

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Tran

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car

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ases

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f (q

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ems

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ts a

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(h

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es)

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g in

puts

to

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ly b

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n

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ss to

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its/

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helf

life,

and

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(in

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an

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limite

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tern

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and

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dam

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and

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seas

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nolo

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used

that

re

adily

co

nser

ves

wat

er, s

uch

as p

last

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mul

ch a

nd

drip

irrig

atio

n

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ss

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r irr

igat

ion

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cult

to

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ss

fert

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sulp

hur f

or

apric

ots)

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are

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to a

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(e.g

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in

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ated

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(in

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k co

ld

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ruct

ure,

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ty o

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rate

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cks

(e.g

. 10

-ton

truck

s)

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of

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impl

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nal

side

)

Cha

lleng

es to

com

pete


37

CONNECT

Besides factors which limit the sector’s ability to compete in international markets, additional constraints affect the ability of sector enterprises to connect with international buyers.

Poor logistics and trade-related infrastructure create challenges for Afghan expor tersAs discussed in previous sections, Afghanistan’s land-locked geography limits transport options for exporting FFV. Depending on the product, Customs delays and poor road infrastructure inhibit the export of certain types of highly perishable fresh produce. Recent success launching the Afghanistan-India air corridor, as well as the inauguration of the Chabahar Port route through the Islamic Republic of Iran, hold great promise. With that said, the air corridor still lacks cold storage facilities at the airports in Kabul and Kandahar, while the Chabahar Port route remains unproven as a major transit route for exports of Afghan fresh produce. Main activities aiming at addressing these issues are cov-ered under the Afghanistan NES document, under the sec-tion on Trade Facilitation.

Value chain segment Distribution


PoA reference Activity 1.1.2, 4.2.3

Uncer tainty and irregularities in Customs and border procedures harms traders’ capacity to access distant markets

Customs delays and uncertainty, as well as burdensome border procedures, negatively impact exporters on several fronts. Instances of corruption and excessive bureaucracy preparing for Customs clearance create needless burdens for traders, who are often required to obtain an assortment of certificates from various Government agencies prior to export.

Another major obstacle for Afghan traders is uncertainty over transit of goods. Although high-level transit agreements have been hammered out between the Afghan Government and its neighbours, the implementation of these agreements has been spotty at best. Many Afghan trucks loaded with fresh produce are forced to offload cargo on the Afghan side of the border and then use trucks operated by the im-port / transit country to continue the voyage to the buyer. This additional step causes damage to fresh produce from rough handing during the transfer, as well as increasing the rate of spoilage as a result of hours ( if not days ) of delays. Finally, the additional hassle of transferring goods from one truck to another at borders decreases the incentive of Afghan trad-ers to invest in refrigerated trucks, as they cannot be used beyond Afghanistan’s borders.

Value chain segment Distribution


PoA reference Activities 2.2.1, 2.2.5


38


Packaging services and materials are inadequate

Deficiencies in packaging of produce is another factor limit-ing the export capacity of the sector. These shortcomings in packaging have three significant ramifications : produce is less able to withstand long voyages, the produce is less attractive to international buyers and shipments may not comply with packaging regulations in developed markets.

Addressing the packaging challenge will not be easy, as facilities for packing fresh produce are limited and of-ten employ substandard methods. Little consideration is given to packaging best practices for each specific type of fresh fruit and vegetable. A final element of this dilemma is cost, as most packaging material must be imported at great expense.

Despite these critical weakness, a few measures have been taken to alleviate this situation. Activities to be consid-ered include spreading awareness of target market pack-aging requirements, as well as planning and implementing training for sector enterprises on how to comply with man-datory packaging requirements in target markets, such as International Standards For Phytosanitary Measures ( ISPM ) 15 ( a requirement in the EU and India ).

Value chain segment Marketing / distribution



Marketing and branding of Afghan FFV is still underdevelopedThere is poor promotion of Afghan products in international markets, with no national ‘Made in Afghanistan’ brand to distinguish Afghan fresh produce from competitor varieties.

Value chain segment Marketing



Gathering market intelligence has not been prioritizedThere have been minimal efforts to collect and disseminate market information to sector stakeholders.

Producers and exporters remain largely ignorant of pric-es, import regulations and preferential tariff rates for Afghan imports in target markets. This appears to be the result of a complete lack of any programme by Government or non-government agencies to gather market intelligence on be-half of sector producers and exporters.

The consequence of this intelligence shortcoming is that export relationships in key target markets have been difficult to develop. Afghan traders simply do not have the necessary information to look at a target market, evaluate the consumer landscape, note prices for key products and make a decision about whether or not to enter the market ( and time entry to achieve optimal prices ).



PoA reference Activities 4.1.1 to 4.1.4,

Small-scale production hampers volume and consistency of fresh produceThe fragmented and small-scale nature of fruit and vegeta-ble cultivation in Afghanistan leads to relatively low yields with inconsistent quality. Additionally, it creates difficulties in terms of efficiently distributing inputs to producers. Cost savings by collective bargaining can be achieved through stronger producer organizations and increased horizontal coordination among farmers.



PoA reference Activities 1.1.1 to 1.1.3, 1.2.1, 1.2.2

Photo: Airport, FOX27133.jpgPhoto: Fruits & Vegetables, FOX25921.jpg


39

Lim

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40


CHANGE

At present, the Afghan fresh produce sector has demon-strated minimal capacity to innovate and diversify produc-tion. Changes across the value chain are necessary for the sector to achieve its full potential.

Limited access to finance prevents upgrades in production and processing capacityThe improvement of current value chain operations is inhibit-ed by limited access to finance. Working capital is needed to purchase production inputs like quality seeds and fertilizer, while investment capital is needed to procure up-to-date farming equipment and establish new commercial farms and orchards.

Another area where investment capital is sorely needed is in food processing. With only a handful of food process-ing facilities in operation, the vast majority of juices, jams, pickled vegetables and potato snacks are imported from abroad, adding to Afghanistan’s massive trade deficit. Moreover, the deficiency in domestic food processing ca-pacity represents a major opportunity cost for Afghan FFV producers, as the glut of supply during the postharvest pe-riod results in low prices in the fresh produce market. If more of this postharvest supply could be diverted to the food pro-cessing industry, prices in both domestic and international markets would increase.

In terms of institutional support, financial services for the fresh produce sector are difficult to access in rural areas and do not meet sector needs. Cultural and religious factors also need to be addressed by commercial banks, as many sec-tor producers and enterprises may be more inclined to use a financing instrument if it is sharia-compliant in structure. The consequence of limited access to finance through formal lending institutions is that opportunistic traders step in to fill the void, making advance cash payments to smallholders for crops at suboptimal prices.




Limited availability of agricultural exper tise

The Afghan labour market does not have enough skilled ag-ricultural workers or workers with expertise in food process-ing. This has contributed to the weak capacity of the Afghan economy to develop strong food processing enterprises that can compete with imported products. At present, much of the food processed in Afghanistan is low quality, or worse, un-safe for human consumption. This can be addressed, in part, through the development of education programmes in food processing, both at the university level as well as through focused technical and vocational training programmes.




Poor investment in R&D inhibits progress

Sector development is severely constrained by a lack of investment in R&D. Focused research is sorely needed to improve production practices, while at the same time sector producers and enterprises must be made aware of tech-nology and methods that have already been developed. Factors inhibiting sector R&D include a massive brain drain of agricultural scientists, as well as the poor state of the Agricultural Research Institute of Afghanistan ( ARIA ). ARIA lacks up-to-date machinery, financial support and laborato-ries, as well as access to arable land and irrigation systems to plant test crops.



PoA reference Activity 1.6.3.

Women are marginalized within the sector, limiting their contributionIn spite of women’s prominence in horticulture, limited support services are available to them. As women are re-strained from interacting with men, suffer from mobility con-straints and have limited access to land, they participate mostly in the lower stages of the value chain. Moreover, women are directly affected by challenges accessing credit because they lack collateral ; and challenges participating in training opportunities because they have limited inter-action with men and do not own land, which is a selec-tion criterion to participate in extension training. Because women are not able to receive training, the sector’s capac-ity to improve in terms of quality control and food safety is inhibited. Women’s producer associations also need more support. The Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock ( MAIL ) and development partners are promoting these as-sociations, which could undertake collective investments or trading activities.





41

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Photo: cc flickr - Todd Huffman, Irrigated farm fields in Afghanistan

[ YIELDING BETTER RESULTS : POSITIONING AFGHANISTAN’S FRESH FRUITS AND VEGETABLES SECTOR IN THE GLOBAL MARKET ]

43

YIELDING BETTER RESULTS : POSITIONING AFGHANISTAN’S

FRESH FRUITS AND VEGETABLES SECTOR IN THE GLOBAL MARKET

This Strategy aims to have the following impact.

• Increase Afghanistan’s exports of FFV, in terms of volume and value.

• Strengthen efforts to decrease postharvest losses.• Optimize time of entry in key markets.• Expand market access with existing transport infrastructure.• Progressively increase value addition by increasing process-

ing capacity for products based on FFV.

• At the regional level, improve Afghanistan’s price competitive-ness and consistency of production. Differentiated policies should be considered, both to intensify commercial farming and to support smallholders.

• At the global level, position Afghanistan by prioritizing high-value – and particularly high-value / low-weight ratio – FFV products.

The increasing demand for FFV in markets close by, such as India and the Russian Federation, offers significant op-portunities for Afghanistan to consolidate and expand sector exports to these markets. Moreover, the opening of air cargo facilities connecting Afghan traders to the Indian market will further boost exports by reducing spoilage from arduous ( and often unrefrigerated ) ground transport. Shipping by air is not cheap, though, which may limit exports by air to highly perishable and high-value / low-weight fresh produce.

While future prospects are generally positive, Afghanistan faces severe competition in regional markets from neigh-bouring exporting countries, such as the Islamic Republic of Iran and Pakistan. Both of these countries have significantly improved their price competitiveness vis-à-vis Afghan pro-ducers over the last several years. Afghan fresh produce has lost competitiveness in price as a result of several factors, including the continuous depreciation of competitors’ cur-rencies, as well as higher costs of production inputs such as fertilizers.

Diversifying Afghanistan’s export destinations has been inhibited by its landlocked geography, poor trans-portation infrastructure and weak cold chain infrastructure. Consequently, Afghanistan has relied heavily on Pakistan as a destination market for its fresh produce.

Considering the Afghan FFV sector’s strengths, weaknesses and opportunities, this Strategy outlines both short-term and long-term courses of action to take to allow the sector to achieve its full potential. They are summarized here :

� Short-term : At the domestic and regional level, Afghanistan should regain price competitiveness and ex-pand destination markets, particularly for key products with medium-to-long shelf life, such as grapes, apples, onions and potatoes. At the same time, the sector can consolidate its position in exports of products with short shelf life, such as tomatoes, in current markets ( e.g. Pakistan ) and add value by improving sorting, grading and packaging.

� Long-term : At the global level, Afghanistan is better suited to compete in high-quality, high-value / low-weight ratio FFV products, targeting high-end markets to mitigate air freight cost disadvantages. Afghan products that fall into this cat-egory are premium varieties of grapes, pomegranates and mushrooms. Most agricultural products in Afghanistan are cultivated using low levels of pesticides and fertilizers ( if any at all ). As a result, organic certification of such prod-ucts from internationally recognized bodies can strengthen Afghanistan’s positioning in developed markets.

44


This overall direction is attainable for Afghanistan during the five-year Strategy time frame. To position themselves in international markets, Afghan exporters must take the fol-lowing steps :

� Increase volume of production : Measures must be tak-en to expand commercial farming in the country, in par-allel with supporting smallholders. The former will entail facilitating access to investment capital to establish com-mercial orchards. The latter will involve a mix of activities, such as expanded use of farmer field schools to train farmers in agricultural best practices, promoting produc-ers’ associations, enhancing coordination within existing associations, and improving the quality of agricultural ex-tension services.

� Decrease postharvest losses : Postharvest losses occur at several stages of the value chain. At the current tech-nology levels, efforts to ameliorate postharvest losses will focus on increasing the skills and capacities of relevant actors throughout the value chain. In parallel, measures to encourage investments in cold chain infrastructure and refrigerated trucks will enable Afghan exporters to reach distant markets by reducing food spoilage. This issue will also be critical to reducing the dependence of Afghanistan on out-of-season imports of FFV, which are driven by a lack of adequate cool and cold warehouses to store produce.

� Optimize time of entry in key markets : By improving cold chain infrastructure, along with tracking price move-ments in target markets, Afghan traders can identify the optimal times of entry into markets in order to maximize profits.

� Expand market access with existing transport infra-structure : While there are several ongoing infrastructure projects that will better connect Afghanistan to regional and global markets, certain measures can be imple-mented at the national level to minimize transport time for exports and thus reduce losses due to spoilage. Among these measures, streamlining border and airport Customs procedures in order to reduce Customs delays will be crucial. Streamlining phytosanitary procedures can also significantly reduce transport delays for fresh produce exports.

� Progressively increase value addition : Improving the quality of production is vital for all relevant markets, as Afghanistan is better suited to compete on quality rather than price for most crops. Sorting and grading of prod-ucts should be conducted at the farm level, with price differentiation based on quality, in order to create eco-nomic incentives among producers to increase quality of production. Poor packaging practices can lead to goods being damaged in transit, diminishing quality and thus

the value of shipments. To address this issue, the Afghan packaging and labelling industry must continue to build its capacity. This will also enable Afghan products to go directly on shelves at retail locations in destination mar-kets. Lastly, the capacity to process fruits and vegeta-bles must be improved, as the Afghan domestic market is dominated by juices, tomato pastes, potato chips and pickled vegetables ( among many other products ) that are currently imported from the Islamic Republic of Iran and Pakistan.

� At the regional level, improve Afghanistan’s com-petitiveness : This can be accomplished by adopting measures to increase agricultural yields and improve their consistency, while also reducing production costs. Investments in the energy sector are an important com-ponent of this objective, as stable power supply is a criti-cal input for effective cold chain infrastructure. In order to boost yields, links must be developed between farming communities and suppliers of key inputs such as fertiliz-ers. Another step to increase yields is to encourage the aggregation of land, which will create more opportunities to achieve economies of scale and thereby improve price competitiveness.

� At the global level, position Afghanistan by prioritiz-ing horticulture products which hold high value, and particularly high-value / low-weight ratios. Afghanistan produces certain fruit and vegetable crops which have great potential in developed countries’ high-end markets. Among these products, Afghan grapes, pomegranates and mushrooms hold the most significant opportuni-ties – particularly in European markets – in the long-term, considering the strict requirements these markets hold in terms of food safety and quality assurance. These prod-ucts are characterized by their high-value / low-weight ra-tio, which compensates relatively higher transport costs, which would be incurred when exporting mushrooms, for example, as they are time-sensitive products and would need to be transported by air freight. Pomegranates can be transported by sea or air and they hold opportunities in high-end markets in European countries, where they are becoming increasingly popular. To capitalize on these products, Afghan exporters will need to be able to ensure food safety as well as consistency of production, packag-ing and processing operations. Quality assurance will be key in market niches, where Afghan products will com-pete based on these aspects. Additionally, promoting and facilitating organic certification could further strengthen Afghan exporters positioning in these markets.


45

• Medium shelf life• Main varieties: Red Delicious, Golden Delicious and Gala• Harvest: Late August to early November• Potential markets: Short to medium-term: Pakistan, India, Russian Federation, UAE

Fruits

Apples

Grapes

Pomegranates

Melons andWatermelons

• Medium shelf life• Main varieties:

Over 100 varieties, among them: Shondokhani, Kishmishi (or Thompson seedless) and Taifi

• Harvest:Mid July to late September

• Potential markets:- Short to medium-term: Pakistan, India, Russian Federation, UAE- Long-term: Germany

• Medium shelf life• Harvest: Mid July to late October• Main varieties:

Zarmati, Jintoor, Arkani, Zarda• Potential markets:

Medium-term: UAE

• Medium to long shelf life• Main varieties:

Jumbo, Bandana• Harvest:

Early September to late November• Potential markets:

- Long-term: Germany, Netherlands

46


• Long shelf life (2-3 months)• Harvest: Early September to late November• Potential markets: Short to medium term: Russian Federation, UAE

Vegetables

Onions

Potatoes

Mushrooms

Tomatoes

• Long shelf life (storage for a few months)• Main varieties:

Safed gul, Be gul, Sabz gul, Lavkar, Chandramukhi, Cardinal and Desiree

• Harvest:Late August to early October

• Potential markets:Short to medium-term: Russian Federation

• Short shelf life (less than 10 days)• Harvest: May–August• Potential markets:

- Short to medium term: Consolidate position in Pakistan, Belarus

- Value added products: Russian Federation

• Short shelf life (less than 10 days)• Harvest:

Two harvest seasons possible: March and October• Potential markets:

- Short to medium-term: Belarus- Long-term: United Kingdom


47

MARKET IDENTIFICATION

The following section provides insights into market develop-ment opportunities relevant to the Afghan FFV sector. Key markets with short-term opportunities to increase exports are selected based on factors such as existing trade rela-tionships, geographic proximity and cultural affinity. These factors form the foundation for optimism about expanded trade ties in the future. In the medium-to-long term, it is ex-pected that the evolving capacities of Afghan exporters and a steadily improving business environment will contribute to the success of exporters in penetrating new markets. Products listed under the short-term section will also hold export potential in the medium-to-long term, unless specifi-cally mentioned.

SHORT-TERM TO MEDIUM-TERM PHASE

Domestic market

Products : Melons, fruit juices ( e.g. apple, pomegranate, peach ), tomato sauce, potato chips

Despite strong national production of melons in Afghanistan, the country faces import competition from neighbouring countries. Melons from the Islamic Republic of Iran and Pakistan are preferred over domestically produced melons because they possess better physical variability and cos-metic appearance. Addressing these quality issues would lead to better prices and higher appreciation in the domestic market.

Although national production of fruits is strong in Afghanistan, the domestic market relies heavily on imports of processed fruit products. Fruit juices and jams are two such examples and are primarily imported from the Islamic

Republic of Iran and Pakistan. The fruit juice market is con-sidered the largest and fastest-growing industry subsector for processed fruit in Afghanistan, with estimates indicating a yearly growth rate of roughly 15 %. Given the high domestic demand for juices, significant opportunities lie mainly with apple, pomegranate, melon, grape and cherry flavours.

Another missed opportunity for Afghan fruit producers is in the area of jams, jellies and fruit concentrates. The Islamic Republic of Iran has traditionally been the main supplier of jams, jellies and marmalades for the Afghan domestic mar-ket. Manufacturing fruit jams and jellies requires relatively low investment and minimal processing. Thus, a crucial op-portunity for import substitution lies in scaling up the current small production of processed fruits in Afghanistan to satisfy domestic demand.

Similarly, local demand for tomato paste is substantial. Tomato paste is a staple in Afghan cooking, with sales es-timated to be between US $ 8 and US $ 16 million. However, tomato paste is currently being imported from the Islamic Republic of Iran and Pakistan. Afghanistan has high levels of tomato production, while also having high domestic demand for tomato paste – the only missing ingredients are invest-ment capital and food processing expertise.

In the last few years, potato production in Afghanistan has experienced sustained growth. Despite abundant sup-ply, production of processed potato products is nearly non-existent. Potato chips, for example, are very popular in the Afghan market, with various brands on the shelves of every neighbourhood shop. The vast majority of these snacks are imported from Pakistan and the Islamic Republic of Iran, with a handful of domestically produced Afghan potato snack brands fighting for shelf space. Further studies are needed to assess actual and forecast national demand for this product category, and the means to increase domestic production.


48


Table 14 : Short-to-medium term market opportunities

Target market

Product Key success factorsDistribution channel

Afghan fresh fruits and vegetable exports

to market 2016 ( US $ thousands )

Annual growth of sector

imports all suppliers

2012–2016 ( % )

Annual gross domestic

product growth estimates

2017–2021 ( % )

Pakistan1

Apples, grapes, tomatoes, tomato-based products, apricots, watermelons

• Optimal entry timing• Price competitiveness

Wholesalers, supermarkets 179 456 7.87 5.56

India Apples, grapes• Quality standards• Optimal entry timing

Wholesalers, supermarkets 78 807 8.69 7.73

Russian Federation

Tomato paste, potatoes, onions, mushrooms, apples, grapes

• Sizing and grading• Price competitiveness Wholesalers - -12.21 1.42

Belarus Mushrooms, tomatoes • Optimal entry timing Wholesalers 10 519 35.64 7.40

UAE

Apples, onions, grapes, mushrooms, melons and watermelons

• Sorting and grading• Sanitary safety and qual-

ity standards ( low pesticides levels )

• Price competitiveness• Building trusting relationships

Wholesalers, distributors ( with direct links to retailers ) 4 523 2.57 3.17

Pakistan

Products : Apples, grapes, tomatoes, tomato-based prod-ucts, apricots, watermelons

Due to the limited ability of Afghan exporters to access in-ternational markets, the vast majority of Afghanistan’s fresh produce is shipped to neighbouring countries, primary among them being Pakistan. Demand in Pakistan for Afghan FFV is sizeable, although returns for Afghan traders are marginal ; Pakistani buyers have enormous leverage setting prices, as Afghan traders know their produce will rot if they fail to find a buyer. Out of necessity, Pakistan must remain a target market in the short and medium terms, although the power balance in this relationship can be shifted if and when Afghanistan expands its cold storage capacity and is able to exhibit patience when negotiating with buyers across the border.

Looking at specific products, the Pakistani market for fresh apples represents an attractive opportunity for Afghan exporters. Pakistani imports of apples have increased stead-ily in recent years, from 9,208 tons in 2008 to roughly 60,000 tons in 2015. Popular varieties include Royal Gala and Sweet Gold, both of which are produced in Afghanistan. The urban markets of Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi offer opportu-nities for higher returns, with supermarkets such as Metro Cash & Carry and Hyperstar selling to high-income consum-ers. They are also approachable for prior vendor registration and offer higher potential for well-graded, staged supply, requiring 3.5–16 kg packaging.

Pakistan is also a net importer of tomatoes, although its demand for tomatoes is largely being met by India ( roughly 76 % of Pakistani tomato imports in 2015 ). Besides tomatoes, Afghan exports of several key sector products to Pakistan are currently at suboptimal volumes and prices. These in-clude grapes, watermelons and fresh apricots. For all three of these products, higher prices could likely be obtained by optimizing time of entry. Again, cold storage capacity is a prerequisite for this course of action.

India

Products : Apples, grapes

India represents an important destination market for Afghan apples. While Afghan traders enjoy tariff preferences export-ing to India, producers must improve the grading and quality of produce if they are to sell at premium prices. Red apples, such as the Afghan-produced Gala variety, are the most popular among Indian consumers. Distribution channels for apples in India are large wholesale markets in Delhi, al-though Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Chennai also host major wholesale operations. Besides wholesalers, Indian supermarkets and hypermarkets also require regular sup-plies of apples in bulk quantities. However, these buyers are uncompromising when it comes to consistency in quality and professional packaging.


49

Besides apples, Afghan exporters have an opportunity to vastly increase their exports of fresh grapes to India. In 2015, Indian imports of fresh grapes stood at roughly US $ 12 mil-lion. Very little of that amount consisted of Afghan grapes. As in the case of the Pakistani market, Afghan exporters can increase their profit margins by optimizing their time of entry in the market ( prices tend to be higher in October and November ). On a positive note, exports to India have already increased significantly since the launch of the Afghan-India air corridor.

Russian Federation

Products : Tomato paste, potatoes, onions, mushrooms, ap-ples, grapes

The Russian Federation represents a largely untapped market for Afghan exports of FFV, as well as minimally processed food products. In terms of vegetables, mush-rooms, potatoes and onions are items largely imported by the Russian market. Mushroom consumption is high in the Russian Federation, although a ban imposed on mushroom imports from Poland has caused a decrease in imports since 2015. Afghanistan could step in to meet Russian de-mand for mushrooms but they would have to be transported via air freight considering the highly perishable nature of this product. Potatoes are another staple food for Russians, with demand currently unmet by domestic production. Potatoes are hardy enough to make long ground voyages but getting Afghan potatoes to the Russian market would still require transit through several Central Asian states ( which is easier said than done ).

When it comes to fruits, the Russian Federation is one of the largest apple importers in the world. The most popular apple varieties include Red Delicious, Golden Delicious and Granny Smith, all produced commercially in Afghanistan. Like potatoes, apples are able to survive long trips by ground, but delays at border crossings going through Central Asia currently make Afghan exports of apples to the Russian Federation a difficult proposition. Likewise, the Russian Federation is also one of the top importers of grapes worldwide ( and is already a buyer of Afghan grapes ). If Afghan traders can successfully maintain grape supplies in cold storage for several months after the harvest, they can achieve optimal prices between January and April. The distribution channels for the Russian market are ex-pected to be wholesalers. Major importers of fruits in the Russian Federation are Tander CJSC, Megafruit Ltd and Glavprodimport Ltd.

Belarus

Products : Mushrooms, tomatoes

Belarus has significantly increased its imports of FFV in the past five years. In 2016, Belarus was the primary destina-tion for Afghan fresh mushrooms and is actually the fourth-largest importer of mushrooms worldwide. Notably, Belarus is positioned as a re-export hub for fresh mushrooms, with the Russian Federation being the primary destination once minimal value addition has taken place. Belarus is also the second-largest export destination for Afghan tomatoes, with the potential to increase export volumes once barriers to trade are further reduced.

Photo: USAID, Rural Business Support Project in Afghanistan1.jpg

50


UAE

Products : Apples, onions, grapes, mushrooms, melons

Dubai is a central hub for FFV import and re-export. Suppliers to this market, who are often integrated with dis-tribution companies, can distribute directly to wholesalers, hypermarkets, supermarkets, hotels and regional wholesale markets. Regarding domestic wholesale markets, the Al-Aweer market in Dubai is of particular importance. This mar-ket includes 15–20 of the UAE’s largest direct importers with prominent fruit, vegetable and juice brands ( e.g. Barakat and Fresh Fruits ). Moreover, the growth of real estate, high levels of migration to urban areas and increasing tourism, combined with limited domestic capacity for food produc-tion, are spurring growth in food imports.

The top Afghan fresh produce product exported to the UAE is apples, although there is high demand in the Emirates for many other FFV that are produced in Afghanistan. Demand for onions grew at an average annual rate of ap-proximately 19 % between 2012 and 2015. Grapes and mushrooms are also in high demand in the UAE, with US $ 111 million of grape imports in 2015, along with US $ 16 million of mushroom imports. While Afghanistan has a com-petitive advantage producing both of these products, its share of imports to the UAE is close to zero. This represents a near complete failure to penetrate this critical regional mar-ket. ITC has calculated that Afghan melons also have signifi-cant potential for export to the UAE, although export levels at present are either nil or insignificant. Mushrooms exported from Afghanistan to the UAE would have to be transported by air freight, given their short shelf life.

Two major obstacles for Afghan exports to the UAE are phytosanitary regulations and expectations of pre-shipment

value addition. The UAE is a highly regulated market for food products, with requirements set by the Gulf Cooperation Council Standardization Organization. As a developed mar-ket, even wholesale buyers in the UAE expect fresh produce to be graded, sorted and professionally packaged prior to shipment. Another significant weakness for Afghan export-ers is that the Islamic Republic of Iran – which has a fresh produce product basket very similar to Afghanistan’s – has direct access to the UAE via a short sea voyage. This puts Afghan exporters at a severe price disadvantage compared with their Iranian competitors. Considering the emphasis on freshness by regional consumers, demand for ready-to-eat products ( e.g. pre-cut vegetables, fruits and juices ) is stead-ily increasing. At the moment, Afghan products compete directly with low-cost Iranian products, so price competitive-ness will be an important factor to consider.

LONG-TERM PHASE

Table 15 : Long-term market opportunities

Target market Product Key success factorsDistribution channel

Afghan fresh fruits and vegetable

exports to market, 2016 ( US $ thousands )

Annual growth of sector

imports, all suppliers,

2012–2016 ( % )

Annual gross domestic

product growth estimates

2017–2021 ( % )

United Kingdom

Mushrooms, dried mushrooms

• Sanitary safety and quality standards ( pesticide levels )

• Food certifications ( e.g. British Retail Consortium )

Specialized importers ( wholesalers ) - 0.97 1.80

GermanyGrapes, pomegranates

• Sanitary safety and quality standards

• Price competitiveness Wholesalers 61 -0.13 1.41

Netherlands Pomegranates• Sanitary safety and quality

standardsImporters ( wholesalers ) - -2.62 2.42



51

United Kingdom

Products : Mushrooms, dried mushrooms

The United Kingdom is the largest global market for mush-rooms ( fresh or chilled ), with imports growing at an average rate of 5 % between 2012 and 2016. However, Afghanistan’s exports of mushrooms to this market are non-existent. Demand is driven by high consumption all year around, which usually peaks in September and November. Both cultivated and wild mushrooms do well in this market. The United Kingdom is also becoming an important market for dried mushrooms, with an average annual growth rate of 7 % for imports between 2012 and 2016.

Considering the high global prices for mushrooms, Afghan traders have an opportunity to use expensive air freight to deliver shipments of mushrooms to the United Kingdom and still generate profits. For such an effort to be successful, though, Afghan traders would have to take steps to ensure their shipments comply with British packaging and food safety requirements, which may begin to change as the United Kingdom prepares to leave the EU single market.

Germany

Products : Grapes, pomegranates

Germany is the third-largest importer of grapes in the world, with imports of US $ 675 million in 2016. Little of this amount is supplied by Afghanistan. Considering the pref-erence for seedless grapes among European consumers, Afghanistan’s Thompson Seedless variety would likely be best suited for this market.

Germany is also an important market for pomegranates as consumption continues to increase. Pomegranates hold the most promising opportunities when minimally processed, for example, by removing the tasty seeds ( arils ) and packag-ing them as ‘ready-to-eat’ snacks. The best entry time for pomegranates in this market is between March and May, which is several months after Afghanistan’s harvest period for pomegranates. Consequently, cold storage is a must in order to obtain optimal prices. There are also profit opportu-nities based on special varieties of organically certified high-quality pomegranates, which are sold at premium prices in this market.

In Germany, Afghan products benefit from the most favourable regime available under the EU’s Generalized Scheme of Preferences, which grants duty-free, quota-free access to the EU for exports of all products. However, strong competition and high levels of quality and food safety re-quirements present daunting obstacles for Afghan export-ers when it comes to both grapes and pomegranates. In order to comply with EU import regulations and establish long-term ties with German buyers, Afghan exporters must improve their capacities in grading, sorting, packaging and consistent shipment delivery.

Netherlands

Product : Pomegranates

The Netherlands is the largest importer of pomegranates from non-European countries and acts as a re-export hub for pomegranates in Europe. Wholesalers order pomegran-ates from various global suppliers and then distribute to various retailers, with supermarkets being the primary sales point for high-income Dutch consumers. As the Netherlands is a member of the EU, export requirements for the country are comparable to those for Germany.

NES focus

Afghanistan has significant opportunities for diversification but current challenges on the supply side ( e.g. productive capacity ), institutional side ( e.g. quality control, connecting with buyers ) and market-entry side ( e.g. movement of goods across borders ) are preventing Afghan exporters from unleashing their full potential. The NES will enhance the ability of Afghan FFV exporters to tap into these opportunities by :

• Stimulating the adoption of enhanced processing and packag-ing methods and the development of cold chain services and good practices ;

• Strengthening the Afghan standardization, quality, accredita-tion and metrology infrastructure ;

• Building a demand-driven skills pipeline based on market requirements ;

• Improving Customs relations and coordination with neigh-bouring countries.

Source: ITC

[ STRATEGIC OPTIONS FOR THE AFGHAN FRESH FRUITS AND VEGETABLES SECTOR ]

53

STRATEGIC OPTIONS FOR THE AFGHAN FRESH FRUITS

AND VEGETABLES SECTOR

VISION

The Afghan FFV sector is united by the following vision :

“ Afghan fresh fruits and vegetables : harvesting success in regional

and global market ”In order to fulfil this ambitious vision, the following strategic objectives have been identified. These objectives provide a framework for developing solutions over the next five-year time frame. They are as follows.

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 1 : INCREASE VOLUMES OF PRODUCTION AND IMPROVE PRICE COMPETITIVENESS

This strategic objective has the goal of increasing volumes of production and achieving cost savings through econo-mies of scale, and consequently improving the ability of Afghan exporters to compete with other regional fresh pro-duce suppliers on price.

On the inputs side, the limited availability of domesti-cally produced fertilizers and pesticides results in higher production costs and hence less price competitiveness for Afghan products, particularly vis-à-vis regional competi-tors. To address this weakness, links must be strengthened between Afghan producers and input suppliers, as well as supporting the domestic production of these critical inputs. Strengthening existing commercial nurseries across the country and supporting the establishment of new nurseries will further support this objective by facilitating access to higher-quality planting materials without high import costs. These measures will diminish costs of production while also resulting in higher yields per hectare.

In order to increase volumes of production, it is critical to strengthen sector coordination by facilitating the registra-tion of new associations through relevant Government bodies, and efforts to decentralize the registration of such associations will be key. Sector associations and farmers must become more nimble in responding to market trends, and this can only be accomplished by disseminating mar-ket research and promoting market-oriented production. In parallel, the sector will benefit from improved coordination between the various actors involved in the value chain, in-cluding farmers, intermediaries, exporters and researchers, among others.

Adopting best farming practices will be crucial for small-holders to attain higher yields. This will be achieved through a combination of policies, including the establishment and expansion of farmer field schools in major agricultural areas of the country. Improving the reach and quality of agricultur-al extension services, including the training and recruitment of female extension service providers, is another critical ac-tion to achieve success within this objective. This will require effort to increase the capacity of extension workers, identify incentives to improve retention rates for qualified technical staff, extend their presence across the country and adopt alternative channels for remote delivery of extension ser-vices. Training alone, though, will be insufficient to maximize smallholders’ yields. Farmers must have better access to working capital to pay for improved production methods, such as trellising for grapes. Measures will also be explored that facilitate the expansion of commercial orchards.

This strategic objective will also encompass activities aimed at increasing investment in R&D for the sector. R&D is crucially needed in several areas, such as improvement of crop varieties and methods to extend production seasons. Results of trials and pilot initiatives must be disseminated to sector stakeholders at all stages of the value chain.

54


Fert

ilizer

s

Kish

mis

hKh

ana

for

dryi

ng /

stor

ing

Labo

ur fo

rce

Lim

ited

liter

acy

(abu

ndan

t) /

skills

(sca

rce)

Bags

/ pa

ckag

ing

(e.g

. woo

den

boxe

s

Cutti

ng a

nd h

arve

stin

g eq

uipm

ent

Plan

ting

mat

eria

l

Smal

l far

mer

s

Hom

e ga

rden

ers

• M

ixed

tree

gar

den

with

2-5

tre

es•

Effo

rt: n

othi

ng b

eyon

d irr

igat

ion

Casu

al fa

rmer

s•

Focu

s on

frui

ts, b

ut n

ot

finan

cial

ly c

omitt

ed•

Com

mite

d fie

lds

Frui

t far

mer

s (c

omm

erci

al

orch

ards

)•

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s on

and

inve

st in

frui

ts•

Com

mite

d fie

lds,

tim

e an

d

mon

ey fo

r agr

icul

tura

l inp

uts

Regi

onal

trad

ers

Non-

re

frige

rate

d tra

nspo

rt,

resp

onsi

ble

for

orga

nizin

g th

e ha

rves

t, em

ploy

ing

labo

urer

s,

pack

agin

g, e

tc.

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dlem

en

and

villa

ge

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l tra

ders

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mov

ing

prod

uct s

hort

di

stan

ces.

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erat

ion

with

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spor

t un

ions

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her v

alue

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ition

fo

r pro

cess

ed fr

uit

Cust

oms

offic

e

Fore

ign

reta

ilers

Smal

l and

la

rge

who

lesa

lers

(Man

dvi)

Mai

n m

arke

ts;

Kabu

l, M

azar

-e-

Shar

if, K

host

, He

rat,

Jala

laba

d an

d Ka

ndah

ar

Loca

l Re

taile

rs

Valu

e ad

ditio

n by

man

ually

cl

eani

ng

prod

uct t

o re

mov

e pa

ckag

ing

stra

w, d

ust

and

ston

es

Info

rmal

mar

ket

Form

al m

arke

t

Dom

estic

ally

co

nsum

ed fr

esh

frui

ts•

Grap

es•

Apric

ots

• Ap

ples

• Po

meg

rana

tes

• Ci

trus

• Ch

errie

s•

Plum

s

Inte

rnat

iona

l mar

ket

Inpu

t sup

ply

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rt tr

ader

s•

Mar

gin

4-16

% fo

r gr

apes

exp

orte

d to

Pa

kist

an•

Cons

olid

ate

prod

uce

and

who

lesa

le to

in

tern

atio

nal m

arke

t•

Act a

s ga

teke

eper

s to

exp

ort

Expo

rted

fres

h fr

uits

• Gr

apes

US$

72.

5 m

illion

• Ap

ples

US$

29

milli

on•

Pom

egra

nate

s US

$ 20

milli

on

• M

elon

s US

$ 3.

6 m

illion

• W

ater

mel

ons

US$

3 m

illion

Top

8 ex

port

de

stin

atio

ns•

Paki

stan

• Be

laru

s•

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a•

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ce•

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gal

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zakh

stan

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n•

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da

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uctio

nAs

sem

bly

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essi

ngDi

strib

utio

n

Dom

estic

mar

ket

(Gra

pes:

20-

40%

of t

otal

cro

p pr

oduc

tion

dom

estic

ally

con

sum

ed, r

est e

xpor

ted

or p

roce

ssed

to

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ods)

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estic

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ue A

dditi

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ple

clea

ning

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litie

s

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ies

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stm

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tic fe

rtiliz

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egis

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stic

ides

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put

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ms

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ders

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dard

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k (in

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e th

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ext

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to c

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tens

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s

Stre

ngth

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rmin

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rmat

ion

• Pr

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e co

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al fa

rmin

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Farm

er fi

eld

scho

ols

• Fr

uit t

ree

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Cent

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r col

lect

ion

and

diss

emin

atio

n of

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ket

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rmat

ion

Rem

ote

deliv

ery

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tens

ion

serv

ices

(e.g

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mer

help

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Inte

grat

ed P

est

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agem

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ote

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mic

bank

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mer

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ease

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ange

pro

gram

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bet

wee

n M

SMEs

, pro

duce

rs, a

gron

omis

ts, e

xten

sion

wor

kers

and

pee

rs

Cred

it pr

ogra

mm

es


55

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 2 : REDUCE POSTHARVEST LOSSES ACROSS THE VALUE CHAIN BY ADDRESSING TECHNICAL AND NON-TECHNICAL ISSUES

In addition to low productivity and low volumes of produc-tion, the Afghan FFV sector is constrained by severe post-harvest losses. At the technical level, inadequate handling of produce following the harvest and poor knowledge of cold chain management contribute to postharvest losses. At the non-technical level, the sector must strengthen and increase the availability of cold chain infrastructure. Refrigerated trucks are a key component to achieve success in this area, as most produce is exported using road transport.

At the technical level, activities must be undertaken that build the capacity of value chain actors to reduce posthar-vest losses with available resources. This will require col-laboration with regional and international partners to share expertise in this area. Once best practices are identified, practical guidelines and recommendations can be devel-oped to ensure maximum quality and minimum spoilage of fresh produce, even with the current limitations in cold chain infrastructure. These best practices would include practical advice regarding optimal harvest times, handling recommendations and packing advice, at a minimum. Recommendations will be disseminated through practical

workshops organized for value chain actors such as small-holders and sector enterprises. Awareness-raising cam-paigns can also be organized that target producers and sector actors involved in postharvest activities.

At the non-technical level, the focus will be on encour-aging investment in cold chain infrastructure, including refrigerated trucks. To achieve this objective, a cold chain scheme will be developed to promote investment in and establishment of cold chain infrastructure companies out-side major trading hubs across the country. The cold chain scheme would consistent of a package of economic incen-tives, such as partial grants, tax incentives and facilitation of land purchase / leasing. In parallel, import regulations for cold chain equipment, including import duties, should be revised. Lastly, considering Afghanistan’s inconsistent power supply, R&D to identify energy-efficient alterna-tives, such as solar-based cold chain equipment, will be encouraged.

Addressing weaknesses related to cold chain infrastruc-ture would also have a positive impact on the marketing of FFV from the farmers’ perspective. As produce is now sold at the peak of harvesting time, farmers receive relatively low prices for their products owing to excess supply dumped into the market within a short time frame. Increasing farmers’ access to adequate cold storage facilities can potentially ameliorate this situation and lead to higher prices during peak harvest times, as well as high prices for several months following the harvest.


56


Fert

ilizer

s

Kish

mis

hKh

ana

for

dryi

ng /

stor

ing

Labo

ur fo

rce

Lim

ited

liter

acy

(abu

ndan

t) /

skills

(sca

rce)

Bags

/ pa

ckag

ing

(e.g

. woo

den

boxe

s

Cutti

ng a

nd h

arve

stin

g eq

uipm

ent

Plan

ting

mat

eria

l

Smal

l far

mer

s

Hom

e ga

rden

ers

• M

ixed

tree

gar

den

with

2-5

tre

es•

Effo

rt: n

othi

ng b

eyon

d irr

igat

ion

Casu

al fa

rmer

s•

Focu

s on

frui

ts, b

ut n

ot

finan

cial

ly c

omitt

ed•

Com

mite

d fie

lds

Frui

t far

mer

s (c

omm

erci

al

orch

ards

)•

Focu

s on

and

inve

st in

frui

ts•

Com

mite

d fie

lds,

tim

e an

d

mon

ey fo

r agr

icul

tura

l inp

uts

Regi

onal

trad

ers

Non-

re

frige

rate

d tra

nspo

rt,

resp

onsi

ble

for

orga

nizin

g th

e ha

rves

t, em

ploy

ing

labo

urer

s,

pack

agin

g, e

tc.

Mid

dlem

en

and

villa

ge

leve

l tra

ders

Each

mov

ing

prod

uct s

hort

di

stan

ces.

Coop

erat

ion

with

tran

spor

t un

ions

Furt

her v

alue

ad

ditio

n fo

r pr

oces

sed

frui

t

Larg

e fr

uit p

rodu

cers

Smal

l and

la

rge

who

lesa

lers

(Man

dvi)

Mai

n m

arke

ts;

Kabu

l, M

azar

-e-

Shar

if, K

host

, He

rat,

Jala

laba

d an

d Ka

ndah

ar

Loca

l Re

taile

rs

Valu

e ad

ditio

n by

man

ually

cl

eani

ng

prod

uct t

o re

mov

e pa

ckag

ing

stra

w, d

ust

and

ston

es

Info

rmal

mar

ket

Form

al m

arke

t

Dom

estic

ally

co

nsum

ed fr

esh

frui

ts•

Grap

es•

Apric

ots

• Ap

ples

• Po

meg

rana

tes

• Ci

trus

• Ch

errie

s•

Plum

s

Inpu

t sup

ply

Prod

uctio

nAs

sem

bly

Proc

essi

ngDi

strib

utio

n

Dom

estic

mar

ket

(Gra

pes:

20-

40%

of t

otal

cro

p pr

oduc

tion

dom

estic

ally

con

sum

ed, r

est e

xpor

ted

or p

roce

ssed

to

drie

d go

ods)

Dom

estic

Val

ue A

dditi

on

Sim

ple

clea

ning

faci

litie

s

Grad

ing

faci

litie

s

Sort

ing

faci

litie

s

Pack

agin

g fa

cilit

ies

Cust

oms

offic

e

Fore

ign

reta

ilers

Inte

rnat

iona

l mar

ket

Expo

rt tr

ader

s•

Mar

gin

4-16

% fo

r gr

apes

exp

orte

d to

Pa

kist

an•

Cons

olid

ate

prod

uce

and

who

lesa

le to

in

tern

atio

nal m

arke

t•

Act a

s ga

teke

eper

s to

exp

ort

Expo

rted

fres

h fr

uits

• Gr

apes

US$

72.

5 m

illion

• Ap

ples

US$

29

milli

on•

Pom

egra

nate

s US

$ 20

milli

on

• M

elon

s US

$ 3.

6 m

illion

• W

ater

mel

ons

US$

3 m

illion

Top

8 ex

port

de

stin

atio

ns•

Paki

stan

• Be

laru

s•

Indi

a•

Fran

ce•

Sene

gal

• Ka

zakh

stan

• Ba

hrai

n•

Cana

da

Awar

enes

s ra

isin

gca

mpa

ign

to p

rolo

ngsh

elf l

ife

Trai

ning

prog

ram

men

s

Guid

elin

es a

ndre

com

men

datio

nsto

ass

ure

qual

ity

Capa

city

-bui

ldin

gpr

ogra

mm

es a

ndpr

omot

ion

of P

PP

Prom

ote

ener

gyef

ficie

ncy

Revi

ew im

port

regu

latio

ns fo

r col

dch

ain

equi

pmen

t

Cold

cha

insc

hem

e


57

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 3 : ADD VALUE BY IMPROVING POSTHARVEST PRACTICES AND PROCESSING CAPACITIES

In-country value addition to Afghan FFV will be critical to better position Afghan produce in regional markets, as well as to penetrate developed markets in the medium-to-long term. Types of value addition to be prioritized include ad-vanced packaging and food processing.

In order to realize this objective, measures will include capacity-building of sector firms, media campaigns to spread awareness, demonstrations of best practices in farmer field schools, and workshops targeting sector as-sociations. In parallel, upgrading quality-testing infrastruc-ture is a must to authenticate the quality ( or lack thereof ) of Afghan produce designated for export. Private investment in laboratory services and quality certifications should be encouraged, while also enhancing the capacity of existing Afghan Government laboratories, with a focus on incentives to hire and retain qualified staff.

Besides measures to improve the quality of produce, another critical area is Afghanistan’s domestic capac-ity to provide high-quality packaging services. The limited

availability of high-quality domestically produced packag-ing materials increases costs for sector enterprises, as they must import these products. Piloting the establishment of a packaging factory to meet sector demand is a key activity to be pursued under this strategic objective. At the same time, companies will receive training on the technical details for crop-specific packaging suitable for each target market.

Moreover, this strategic objective will seek to increase domestic capacity to engage in food processing activities in which FFV constitute the primary raw input. Currently, Afghanistan’s ability to process food domestically is ex-tremely limited. As a consequence, processed fruit and vegetable products, such as juices, tomato pastes, pickled vegetables and potato-based snacks are mostly imported from neighbouring countries. Promoting investment in pro-cessing companies ( including foreign direct investment ), will be one of the main activities aimed at addressing this issue. A complementary measure will be building a pool of skilled labour in food processing. At present, many of the existing food processing operations in Afghanistan do not operate to international standards when it comes to hygiene of work-ers and sanitation of facilities. Activities must be considered that address these critical deficiencies, which may include short courses on food processing developed by the Afghan Government or its international development partners.


58


Fert

ilizer

s

Kish

mis

hKh

ana

for

dryi

ng /

stor

ing

Labo

ur fo

rce

Lim

ited

liter

acy

(abu

ndan

t) /

skills

(sca

rce)

Bags

/ pa

ckag

ing

(e.g

. woo

den

boxe

s

Cutti

ng a

nd h

arve

stin

g eq

uipm

ent

Plan

ting

mat

eria

l

Smal

l far

mer

s

Hom

e ga

rden

ers

• M

ixed

tree

gar

den

with

2-5

tre

es•

Effo

rt: n

othi

ng b

eyon

d irr

igat

ion

Casu

al fa

rmer

s•

Focu

s on

frui

ts, b

ut n

ot

finan

cial

ly c

omitt

ed•

Com

mite

d fie

lds

Frui

t far

mer

s (c

omm

erci

al

orch

ards

)•

Focu

s on

and

inve

st in

frui

ts•

Com

mite

d fie

lds,

tim

e an

d

mon

ey fo

r agr

icul

tura

l inp

uts

Regi

onal

trad

ers

Non-

re

frige

rate

d tra

nspo

rt,

resp

onsi

ble

for

orga

nizin

g th

e ha

rves

t, em

ploy

ing

labo

urer

s,

pack

agin

g, e

tc.

Mid

dlem

en

and

villa

ge

leve

l tra

ders

Each

mov

ing

prod

uct s

hort

di

stan

ces.

Coop

erat

ion

with

tran

spor

t un

ions

Furt

her v

alue

ad

ditio

n fo

r pr

oces

sed

frui

t

Smal

l and

la

rge

who

lesa

lers

(Man

dvi)

Mai

n m

arke

ts;

Kabu

l, M

azar

-e-

Shar

if, K

host

, He

rat,

Jala

laba

d an

d Ka

ndah

ar

Loca

l Re

taile

rs

Valu

e ad

ditio

n by

man

ually

cl

eani

ng

prod

uct t

o re

mov

e pa

ckag

ing

stra

w, d

ust

and

ston

es

Info

rmal

mar

ket

Form

al m

arke

t

Dom

estic

ally

co

nsum

ed fr

esh

frui

ts•

Grap

es•

Apric

ots

• Ap

ples

• Po

meg

rana

tes

• Ci

trus

• Ch

errie

s•

Plum

s

Inpu

t sup

ply

Prod

uctio

nAs

sem

bly

Proc

essi

ngDi

strib

utio

n

Dom

estic

mar

ket

(Gra

pes:

20-

40%

of t

otal

cro

p pr

oduc

tion

dom

estic

ally

con

sum

ed, r

est e

xpor

ted

or p

roce

ssed

to

drie

d go

ods)

Dom

estic

Val

ue A

dditi

on

Sim

ple

clea

ning

faci

litie

s

Grad

ing

faci

litie

s

Sort

ing

faci

litie

s

Pack

agin

g fa

cilit

ies

Cust

oms

offic

e

Fore

ign

reta

ilers

Inte

rnat

iona

l mar

ket

Expo

rt tr

ader

s•

Mar

gin

4-16

% fo

r gr

apes

exp

orte

d to

Pa

kist

an•

Cons

olid

ate

prod

uce

and

who

lesa

le to

in

tern

atio

nal m

arke

t•

Act a

s ga

teke

eper

s to

exp

ort

Expo

rted

fres

h fr

uits

• Gr

apes

US$

72.

5 m

illion

• Ap

ples

US$

29

milli

on•

Pom

egra

nate

s US

$ 20

milli

on

• M

elon

s US

$ 3.

6 m

illion

• W

ater

mel

ons

US$

3 m

illion

Top

8 ex

port

de

stin

atio

ns•

Paki

stan

• Be

laru

s•

Indi

a•

Fran

ce•

Sene

gal

• Ka

zakh

stan

• Ba

hrai

n•

Cana

da

Best

pra

ctic

es fo

rqu

ality

pro

duct

ion

Upda

te /

deve

lop

new

cour

ses

in a

gro-

proc

essi

ng /

busi

ness

by th

e se

ctor

at k

eyun

iver

sitie

s an

d tra

inin

gce

ntre

s

Capa

cita

teco

mpa

nies

on

pack

agin

g

Cond

uct f

easi

bilit

yst

udy

on s

ettin

g up

a pa

ckag

ing

fact

ory

Link

s be

twee

n re

gion

alan

d in

tern

atio

nal

pack

agin

g su

pplie

rs

Link

s be

twee

n th

eed

ucat

iona

l sec

tor

and

proc

esso

rs

Prom

ote

valu

ead

ditio

n

Prio

ritize

pro

duct

dive

rsifi

catio

n

Esta

blis

h m

onito

ring

mea

sure

s to

det

erm

ine

succ

ess

of th

e ad

just

ed/ n

ew c

ours

es a

ndre

visi

on m

echa

nism

toco

ntin

ue a

dapt

ing

them

Exte

nd re

ach

offin

anci

al s

ervi

ces

topr

ovin

ces

and

incr

ease

focu

s on

fres

h fru

its a

ndve

geta

bles

sub

-egm

ent

Ince

ntiv

e pa

ckag

e to

attr

act i

nves

tors

Supp

ort d

evel

opm

ent o

f ban

k pr

opos

als

Prev

ent b

rain

dra

in o

f ski

lled

prof

essi

onal

s in

the

sect

or

Capa

cita

te a

ssoc

iatio

ns in

bus

ines

s pl

anin

g an

d de

velo

ping

bank

pro

posa

ls

Upgr

ade

prod

uct-

test

ing

infra

estru

ctur

e

Trai

ning

prog

ram

me

toim

prov

e te

chni

cal

capa

city

Com

puls

ory

requ

irem

ents

on

trace

abilit

y


59

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 4 : INCREASE THE SECTOR’S CAPACITY TO ENTER AND SUSTAIN RELATIONSHIPS IN DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL MARKETS

Afghanistan’s FFV exports remain extremely dependent on the Pakistani market. In order to diminish this dependence and reduce the vulnerability of Afghan exporters, it is im-perative for the sector to diversify export destinations.

To achieve this strategic objective, Afghan Government officials stationed at embassies and consulates in target markets must be tasked with preparing market studies and detailing the nuances of import requirements. To capital-ize on information collected by the Afghan Government’s foreign missions, there must be a central agency that coor-dinates market intelligence gathering and prepares reports for sector producers, enterprises and exporters. In paral-lel, measures must be taken to build the capacity of sector

enterprises in the area of export procedures, with detailed information provided about import requirements for all tar-get markets. At the state level, the Afghan Government can continue its work pushing for trade agreements with other nations that help Afghan exporters minimize time clearing Customs controls in target markets and transiting through neighbouring countries.

At the global level, Afghan FFV have little visibility. To build a national brand for Afghan FFV in regional and inter-national markets, marketing activities such as the develop-ment of catalogues that can be disseminated to potential buyers will be pursued.

Another key element under this objective is improving in-market support. This can be accomplished by facilitat-ing the participation of sector enterprises in relevant inter-national fairs and exhibitions, as well as the organization of business-to-business meetings to help Afghan sector en-terprises build ties with international buyers. Support for the establishment of warehouses in upcoming target markets, such as India and the UAE, will be promoted through invest-ment incentive packages.


60


Fert

ilizer

s

Kish

mis

hKh

ana

for

dryi

ng /

stor

ing

Labo

ur fo

rce

Lim

ited

liter

acy

(abu

ndan

t) /

skills

(sca

rce)

Bags

/ pa

ckag

ing

(e.g

. woo

den

boxe

s

Cutti

ng a

nd h

arve

stin

g eq

uipm

ent

Plan

ting

mat

eria

l

Smal

l far

mer

s

Hom

e ga

rden

ers

• M

ixed

tree

gar

den

with

2-5

tre

es•

Effo

rt: n

othi

ng b

eyon

d irr

igat

ion

Casu

al fa

rmer

s•

Focu

s on

frui

ts, b

ut n

ot

finan

cial

ly c

omitt

ed•

Com

mite

d fie

lds

Frui

t far

mer

s (c

omm

erci

al

orch

ards

)•

Focu

s on

and

inve

st in

frui

ts•

Com

mite

d fie

lds,

tim

e an

d

mon

ey fo

r agr

icul

tura

l inp

uts

Regi

onal

trad

ers

Non-

re

frige

rate

d tra

nspo

rt,

resp

onsi

ble

for

orga

nizin

g th

e ha

rves

t, em

ploy

ing

labo

urer

s,

pack

agin

g, e

tc.

Furt

her v

alue

ad

ditio

n fo

r pr

oces

sed

frui

t

Smal

l and

la

rge

who

lesa

lers

(Man

dvi)

Mai

n m

arke

ts;

Kabu

l, M

azar

-e-

Shar

if, K

host

, He

rat,

Jala

laba

d an

d Ka

ndah

ar

Loca

l Re

taile

rs

Valu

e ad

ditio

n by

man

ually

cl

eani

ng

prod

uct t

o re

mov

e pa

ckag

ing

stra

w, d

ust

and

ston

es

Info

rmal

mar

ket

Form

al m

arke

t

Dom

estic

ally

co

nsum

ed fr

esh

frui

ts•

Grap

es•

Apric

ots

• Ap

ples

• Po

meg

rana

tes

• Ci

trus

• Ch

errie

s•

Plum

s

Inpu

t sup

ply

Prod

uctio

nAs

sem

bly

Proc

essi

ngDi

strib

utio

n

Dom

estic

mar

ket

(Gra

pes:

20-

40%

of t

otal

cro

p pr

oduc

tion

dom

estic

ally

con

sum

ed, r

est e

xpor

ted

or p

roce

ssed

to

drie

d go

ods)

Dom

estic

Val

ue A

dditi

on

Sim

ple

clea

ning

faci

litie

s

Grad

ing

faci

litie

s

Sort

ing

faci

litie

s

Pack

agin

g fa

cilit

ies

Cust

oms

offic

e

Fore

ign

reta

ilers

Inte

rnat

iona

l mar

ket

Expo

rt tr

ader

s•

Mar

gin

4-16

% fo

r gr

apes

exp

orte

d to

Pa

kist

an•

Cons

olid

ate

prod

uce

and

who

lesa

le to

in

tern

atio

nal m

arke

t•

Act a

s ga

teke

eper

s to

exp

ort

Expo

rted

fres

h fr

uits

• Gr

apes

US$

72.

5 m

illion

• Ap

ples

US$

29

milli

on•

Pom

egra

nate

s US

$ 20

milli

on

• M

elon

s US

$ 3.

6 m

illion

• W

ater

mel

ons

US$

3 m

illion

Top

8 ex

port

de

stin

atio

ns•

Paki

stan

• Be

laru

s•

Indi

a•

Fran

ce•

Sene

gal

• Ka

zakh

stan

• Ba

hrai

n•

Cana

da

Mid

dlem

en

and

villa

ge

leve

l tra

ders

Each

mov

ing

prod

uct s

hort

di

stan

ces.

Coop

erat

ion

with

tran

spor

t un

ions

Larg

e fr

uit p

rodu

cers

Trai

ning

on

expo

rtpr

oced

ures

Prep

arat

ion

on a

ndpa

rtic

ipat

ion

intra

de fa

irs

Afgh

an b

rand

thro

ugh

labe

lling

syst

em

Cata

logu

es o

fAf

ghan

fres

h fru

itsan

d ve

geta

bles

Expo

rt g

uide

for

fresh

frui

ts a

nd

vege

tabl

esCo

llabo

ratio

n w

ithin

tern

atio

nal

inst

itutio

ns

Com

mun

icat

ion

chan

nels

with

key

buye

rs

Regu

lar a

ndup

date

d m

arke

tin

form

atio

n

Stud

y to

urs

bygo

vern

men

tof

ficia

ls

Mar

ketin

g st

rate

gy

War

ehou

ses

in k

eym

arke

ts

Educ

ate

expo

rter

sab

out s

igne

d tra

deag

reem

ents

[ MOVING TO ACTION ]

61

MOVING TO ACTION

KEY REQUIREMENTS FOR EFFECTIVE IMPLEMENTATIONThe development of the future value chain for the Afghan FFV sector is a five-year project defined through a consul-tative process between Afghan public and private sector stakeholders. Achieving the strategic objectives and real-izing the future value chain depends heavily on the ability of sector stakeholders to start implementing and coordinating the activities defined in the PoA.

The PoA in and of itself will not alone suffice to ensure the sector’s sustainable development. Such development will require the coordination of various activities. While the execution of these activities will allow for the PoA’s targets to be achieved, success will ultimately depend on the ability of stakeholders to plan and coordinate actions in a focused, deliberate fashion. Seemingly unrelated activities must be synchronized across entities in the public, private and de-velopment sectors, with the additional need for local com-munities to participate.

To ensure the success of the PoA, it is necessary to create an appropriate framework for implementation. The following section presents some of the key conditions con-sidered necessary for successful implementation.

ESTABLISH AND OPERATIONALIZE A PUB-LIC AND PRIVATE SECTOR COORDINAT-ING BODY AND EXECUTIVE SECRETARIAT

FFV sector steering committee

A key success criterion for the FFV PoA is the ability to co-ordinate activities, monitor progress and mobilize resourc-es for implementation. It is recommended that a steering committee comprised of the key public and private sector entities be formed or supported ( if a similar entity already exists ). This will function as an information-sharing platform, with balanced representation of all major FFV stakeholders.

Overall it is proposed that the steering committee be re-sponsible for the following tasks related to PoA implementation :

� Coordinate and monitor the implementation of the PoA ; � Identify and recommend allocation of resources neces-

sary for the implementation of the PoA ; � Assess the effectiveness and impact of the PoA ; � Ensure consistency with the Government’s existing poli-

cies, plans and strategies, and align institutions’ and agencies’ internal plans and interventions with the PoA ;

� Elaborate and recommend revisions and enhancements to the PoA so that it continues to best respond to the

needs and long-term interests of the national business and export community ;

� Propose key policy changes to be undertaken, based on Strategy priorities, and promote these policy changes among national decision makers ;

� Guide the sector secretariat in the monitoring, coordi-nation, resource mobilization, and policy advocacy and communication functions to enable effective implemen-tation of the PoA ;

� Provide the sector secretariat with the mandate and the nec-essary resources to fulfil its functions in an effective manner.

Composition of the sector steering committee

It is recommended that the FFV steering committee be comprised of key entities involved in the sector, with special focus on ensuring equitable involvement of both the public and private sectors.

Secretariat

A secretariat will assist the steering committee by acting as an operational body responsible for the daily coordination, monitoring and mobilization of resources to implement the PoA. It is proposed that it take on this role with technical support from key ministries and technical agencies. The secretariat will be composed of 1–2 technical operators.

The core responsibilities of the sector secretariat should be to : � Support functioning of the FFV steering committee ; � Collect and manage data to monitor progress and impact

of PoA implementation ; � Liaise with and coordinate development partners for PoA

implementation ; � Elaborate project proposals and build partnerships to

mobilize resources to implement the PoA ; � Follow up on policy advocacy recommendations from the

FFV steering committee ; � Ensure effective communication and networking for suc-

cessful PoA implementation.

Both the FFV steering committeeand its secretariat will work hand-in-hand with existing entities established to stream-line government operations and enhance donor operations. These include the NES secretariat and others. It is possi-ble that the secretariat will be accommodated as part of an existing entity with an extended mandate and resources allocated to it.

STRATEGIC PLAN OF ACTION

64


Stra

tegi

c ob

ject

ive

1 : In

crea

se v

olum

es o

f pro

duct

ion

and

impr

ove

pric

e co

mpe

titiv

enes

s.

Oper

atio

nal

obje

ctiv

esAc

tiviti

esPr

iorit

y 1=

high

2=

med

3=

low

Impl

emen

tatio

n pe

riod

Targ

ets*

Lead

and

sup

porti

ng

impl

emen

ters

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

1.1.

Stre

ngth

en

asso

ciat

ions

ope

r-at

ing

in th

e se

ctor

.

1.1.

1. E

ncou

rage t

he d

evelo

pmen

t of f

armer

s’ as

socia

tions

and

their

integ

ratio

n int

o lar

ger s

ecto

r ass

ociat

ions

.

• Re

view

the r

egist

ratio

n opt

ions

for f

armer

s’ as

socia

tions

thro

ugh t

he re

levan

t gov

ernm

ent b

odies

. Con

sider

and

infor

m p

rodu

cers

that

curre

ntly

coop

erati

ves

are s

ubjec

t to

20 %

tax a

nnua

lly, w

hich

leave

s th

em le

ss c

apab

le of

com

petin

g. C

onsid

er d

ecen

traliz

ation

of

appr

oval

for a

pplic

ation

s and

addr

ess i

ssue

s to

strea

mlin

e the

regi

strati

on p

roce

ss.

• En

cour

age t

he d

evelo

pmen

t of f

armer

s’ as

socia

tions

by d

oing

bus

iness

such

as fa

rming

, inp

ut d

istrib

utio

n, st

orag

e, pr

oces

sing,

trad

-ing

, etc.

with

asso

ciatio

ns ra

ther

than

with

indi

vidua

l farm

ers.

2•

Regi

strati

on o

f unio

ns /

asso

ciatio

ns is

revis

ed an

d co

rrecti

ve m

easu

res ar

e int

egrat

ed•

At le

ast 1

00 m

embe

rs of

as

socia

tions

par

ticip

ate

Min

istry

of E

cono

my )

, M

inistr

y of J

ustic

e

1.1.

2. C

arry o

ut an

insti

tutio

nal b

ench

mark

ing p

rogr

amm

e for

secto

r ass

ociat

ions

to im

prov

e the

ir pe

rform

ance

by m

easu

ring

the e

f-fec

tiven

ess a

nd ef

ficien

cy o

f the

ir bu

sines

s prac

tices

. The

pro

gram

me s

houl

d su

rvey a

ll ac

tivity

area

s, inc

ludi

ng st

rateg

y and

gov

ern-

ance

, res

ourc

es an

d pr

oces

ses,

prod

ucts

and

servi

ces,

and

resul

ts m

easu

remen

t.

2•

Instit

utio

nal b

ench

mark

ing

prog

ramm

e ope

ratio

nal

and

bene

fiting

10

secto

r as

socia

tions

Min

istry

of C

omm

erce

an

d In

dust

ries

( MoI

C ), A

fgha

nistan

Ch

ambe

r of C

omm

erce

and

Indus

tries

( ACC

I )1.

1.3.

Cap

acita

te as

socia

tions

( with

a se

t quo

ta of

wom

en’s

asso

ciatio

ns ) i

n bu

sines

s and

fina

ncial

plan

ning

and

advo

catin

g fo

r the

se

ctor.

• Co

nduc

t wor

ksho

ps an

d sh

ort t

rainin

gs to

micr

o, sm

all an

d m

edium

-size

d en

terpr

ises (

MSM

Es ) i

n th

e se

ctor t

o ca

pacit

ate th

em in

bu

sines

s pl

annin

g, fi

nanc

ial s

kills

( e.g

. pro

per r

ecor

d ke

eping

) and

dev

elopi

ng b

ank p

ropo

sals

to e

nhan

ce th

eir fi

nanc

ial s

tandi

ng

shou

ld th

ey ev

er ap

ply f

or lo

ans.

• Th

roug

h a

serie

s of

wor

ksho

ps, r

adio

pro

gram

mes

and

the

deve

lopm

ent o

f out

reac

h m

ateria

l suc

h as

bro

chur

es, c

reate

awa

rene

ss

amon

g far

mer

s and

loca

l com

mun

ities

of r

eleva

nt an

d av

ailab

le fin

ancia

l ser

vices

for t

he se

ctor i

n Isl

amic

bank

ing.

• Co

ach

asso

ciatio

n lea

ders

in m

arket

infor

mati

on an

d bu

lk m

arketi

ng.

• Tra

in lea

ders

of fa

rmer

s’ as

socia

tions

to m

ediat

e with

exter

nal r

esou

rce i

nstit

utio

ns, s

uch a

s the

Gov

ernm

ent a

nd fin

ancia

l insti

tutio

ns.

1•

Betw

een

10 an

d 15

secto

r as

socia

tions

par

ticip

ate in

ca

pacit

y-bu

ilding

train

ing,

out o

f whic

h fiv

e are

wom

en’s

asso

ciatio

ns

Min

istry

of F

orei

gn

Affa

irs ( M

oFA )

, M

inistr

y of F

inanc

e ( M

oF )

1.1.

4. To

facil

itate

the i

nteg

ratio

n of

the v

alue c

hain

and

prov

ide a

supp

ortiv

e bus

iness

envir

onm

ent f

or fa

rmer

s, as

sess

the f

easib

ility

of

estab

lishin

g “c

omm

odity

mark

ets” a

t majo

r citi

es an

d m

arket

cent

res fo

r fru

its an

d ve

getab

les2

• On

e fea

sibili

ty stu

dy

cond

ucted

M

AIL,

secto

r ass

ocia-

tions

, MoC

I

1.2.

Incr

ease

co-

ordi

natio

n fo

r sec

-to

r dev

elop

men

t ef

forts

.

1.2.

1. E

stabl

ish a

worki

ng g

roup

for t

he F

FV se

ctor (

e.g.

a bo

ard ).

Wor

king

grou

p to

be a

hig

h-lev

el pl

atfor

m co

mpo

sed

of p

ublic

and

priva

te se

ctor s

takeh

olde

rs, in

cludi

ng se

ctor f

irms,

asso

ciatio

ns, e

.g. U

nion

of F

ruits

and

Vege

tables

, am

ong

othe

rs.

• Th

e wor

king

grou

p is

to st

imul

ate d

ialog

ue an

d co

ordi

natio

n wi

th se

ctor s

takeh

olde

rs th

roug

h reg

ular

mee

tings

.•

Addi

tiona

lly, s

uch

a plat

form

will

ensu

re im

plem

entat

ion

of th

is St

rateg

y, res

ourc

e mob

iliza

tion

and

polic

y adv

ocac

y.

1•

Wor

king

grou

p ( e

.g. b

oard

) fo

r the

secto

r esta

blish

ed•

Mee

tings

of w

orkin

g gr

oup

are h

eld m

onth

ly

MAI

L, se

ctor

asso

ciatio

ns

1.2.

2. C

reate

techn

ical c

omm

issio

ns w

ithin

the h

igh-

level

platf

orm

to o

verse

e the

dev

elopm

ent,

impl

emen

tatio

n an

d op

erati

on o

f tec

h-nic

al ac

tiviti

es w

ithin

the f

ield

of th

eir sp

ecifi

c com

miss

ion.

• Cr

eate

a com

mitt

ee w

ithin

the w

orkin

g gr

oup,

e.g.

com

mitt

ee o

n skil

ls de

velo

pmen

t, co

mpr

ising

priv

ate an

d pu

blic

secto

r stak

ehol

d-er

s, to

reinf

orce

invo

lvem

ent o

f the

priv

ate se

ctor i

n ex

tensio

n se

rvice

s and

upg

rade a

grib

usine

ss-re

levan

t trai

ning

and

educ

ation

.•

Crea

te a t

echn

ical c

omm

ittee

with

in th

e wor

king

grou

p, e.

g. a

com

mitt

ee o

n co

ld c

hain

deve

lopm

ent,

com

prisi

ng p

rivate

and

publ

ic se

ctor s

takeh

olde

rs, in

cludi

ng re

pres

entat

ives f

rom

relev

ant a

ncill

ary se

rvice

s’ fir

ms s

uch a

s tran

spor

t com

panie

s. Th

e com

mitt

ee w

ill

help

pro

mot

e and

dev

elop

cold

chain

infra

struc

ture

base

d on

secto

r nee

ds.

2•

Com

mitt

ee o

n sk

ills

deve

lopm

ent a

nd co

mm

ittee

on

cold

chain

dev

elopm

ent

form

ed an

d op

erati

onal

• M

eetin

gs o

f com

mitt

ees a

re he

ld ev

ery t

wo m

onth

s

MAI

L, se

ctor

asso

ciatio

ns

1.3.

Impr

ove

pro-

duct

ivity

by

en-

hanc

ing

the

avai

l-ab

ility

of q

ualit

y ( n

on-s

eed )

inpu

ts.

1.3.

1. P

rom

ote i

nves

tmen

t in

dom

estic

ferti

lizer

pro

ducti

on.

• Ide

ntify

inve

stmen

t opp

ortu

nities

to :

–Se

t up

fertil

izer p

rodu

ction

plan

ts in

key

subn

ation

al lo

catio

ns ( c

lose

to m

ajor c

onsu

mpt

ion

or in

put s

uppl

y ce

ntre

s ). T

ake

into

cons

ider

ation

regi

on /

crop

-spe

cific

fertil

izer r

equir

emen

ts. –

Estab

lish

storag

e fac

ilitie

s for

ferti

lizer

s in

cent

ral n

odes

( pub

lic–p

rivate

par

tner

ship

( PPP

) ). F

ertil

izers

coul

d th

en b

e dist

ribut

ed

by w

holes

alers

and

retail

ers f

rom

thes

e cen

tral n

odes

.•

Deve

lop

inves

tmen

t inc

entiv

es to

revit

alize

the

dom

estic

ferti

lizer

indu

stry f

or d

omes

tic c

onsu

mpt

ion

( and

pot

entia

l reg

iona

l exp

ort )

by re

vam

ping

exist

ing p

rodu

ction

and

poten

tially

supp

ortin

g ne

w fer

tilize

r plan

ts.•

Supp

ort t

he d

evelo

pmen

t of b

ank p

ropo

sals

for i

dent

ified

inve

stmen

t opp

ortu

nities

in d

omes

tic fe

rtiliz

er p

rodu

ction

.

3•

Three

ferti

lizer

plan

ts se

t up

in m

ain p

rodu

cing

prov

inces

MoC

I ( Af

ghan

ista

n In

vest

men

t Sup

port

Agen

cy ),

MoF

* Ta

rget

s ar

e in

dica

tive

only

and

will

be

the

subj

ect o

f fur

ther

refin

emen

t at b

egin

ning

of t

he im

plem

enta

tion

man

agem

ent s

tage

. Sim

ilarly

, the

lead

and

sup

porti

ng im

plem

ente

rs

colu

mn

rem

ains

indi

cativ

e be

caus

e im

plem

enta

tion

will

requ

ire c

olle

ctiv

e ef

forts

, for

whi

ch a

dditi

onal

inst

itutio

ns m

ay b

e ad

ded.

[ STRATEGIC PLAN OF ACTION ]

65

Stra

tegi

c ob

ject

ive

1 : In

crea

se v

olum

es o

f pro

duct

ion

and

impr

ove

pric

e co

mpe

titiv

enes

s.

Oper

atio

nal

obje

ctiv

esAc

tiviti

esPr

iorit

y 1=

high

2=

med

3=

low

Impl

emen

tatio

n pe

riod

Targ

ets*

Lead

and

sup

porti

ng

impl

emen

ters

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

1.3.

Impr

ove

pro-

duct

ivity

by

en-

hanc

ing

the

avai

l-ab

ility

of q

ualit

y ( n

on-s

eed )

inpu

ts.

1.3.

2. In

a m

ulti-

stake

hold

er se

tting

, dev

elop

a plan

for t

he sa

le of

envir

onm

ental

ly fri

endl

y, aff

orda

ble p

estic

ides

to p

rodu

cers

( inclu

d-ing

a di

strib

utio

n m

odel

). Sp

ecifi

cally

pro

mot

e the

sale

of b

iope

sticid

es an

d pe

sticid

es o

f plan

t orig

in.3

• Di

strib

utio

n m

odel

deve

lope

dM

AIL

1.3.

3. D

evelo

p an

expo

rt as

sistan

ce n

etwor

k dire

ctory

for s

ecto

r com

panie

s.

• De

velo

p a c

ompr

ehen

sive d

ataba

se ( i

nclu

ding

cont

act d

etails

) on :

–Op

erati

ng co

mpa

nies e

ngag

ed in

the s

uppl

y of c

ritica

l inp

uts /

servi

ces (

e.g.

ferti

lizer

s, pe

sticid

es, e

quip

men

t, pa

ckag

ing m

ateri-

als, t

ransp

ort c

ompa

nies )

to fr

uit an

d ve

getab

le gr

ower

s. –

Prod

uct d

esig

n an

d de

velo

pmen

t com

panie

s. –

Avail

able

quali

ty ce

rtific

ation

bod

ies.

–Ex

port

mark

eting

and

prom

otio

n. –

Stati

stica

l and

cred

it inf

orm

ation

. –

Foca

l poi

nts i

n rel

evan

t mini

stries

.•

Diss

emina

te th

e da

tabas

e as

a ye

llow

book

to b

e av

ailab

le to

key s

takeh

olde

rs ( p

rodu

cers,

exp

orter

s ) th

roug

h a c

atalo

gue,

webs

ites

and

poste

rs in

loca

l mark

ets ( p

artic

ularl

y to

increa

se d

issem

inatio

n to

farm

ers’

asso

ciatio

ns ),

amon

g ot

hers.

3•

Yello

w bo

ok d

evelo

ped

and

diss

emina

tedM

oCI,

MAI

L, Ce

ntral

St

atisti

cs O

rgan

izatio

n,

MoF

A

1.4.

Ens

ure

and

prom

ote

the

use

of

certi

fied,

mar

ket-

orie

nted

see

ds a

nd

youn

g tre

es.

1.4.

1. S

uppo

rt th

e stre

ngth

ening

of e

xistin

g co

mm

ercial

nur

serie

s in

the c

ount

ry

• Up

date

the

cens

us o

f exis

ting

nurse

ries i

n Af

ghan

istan

. Col

lect i

nfor

mati

on o

n th

e nu

mbe

r of n

urse

ries,

avail

able

varie

ties,

statu

s of

prod

uctio

n, he

alth s

tatus

, pes

t dise

ase c

ontro

l sys

tems,

man

agem

ent p

ractic

es, c

urren

t con

strain

ts an

d cha

lleng

es ( e

.g. m

anag

emen

t, av

ailab

ility

of p

lantin

g m

ateria

l, etc

. ), am

ong

othe

rs. D

evelo

p co

rrecti

ve m

easu

res an

d po

licies

, acc

ordi

ngly.

• Th

roug

h wo

rksho

ps an

d an

aware

ness

-raisi

ng ca

mpa

ign,

supp

ort t

he re

gistr

ation

of e

xistin

g fru

it tre

e nur

serie

s.

3•

Cens

us u

pdate

dM

AIL,

Afg

hanis

tan

Natio

nal N

urse

ry Gr

ower

s’ Or

ganiz

ation

( A

NNGO

)

1.4.

2. S

uppo

rt th

e esta

blish

men

t of f

ruit

tree n

urse

ries i

n ke

y loc

ation

s. If

cons

idere

d ne

cess

ary, s

uppo

rt th

e esta

blish

men

t of n

ew

nurse

ries.

• Ide

ntify

loca

tions

with

pot

entia

l for

the

estab

lishm

ent o

f fru

it tre

e nu

rserie

s bas

ed o

n en

ablin

g fac

tors

such

as ac

cess

ibili

ty of

wate

r, lan

d and

wea

ther-r

elated

issu

es ( s

oil, w

eathe

r patt

erns

), the

exist

ence

of fr

uit gr

ower

s and

mark

ets. In

paral

lel, fa

cilita

te ac

cess

to la

nd.

2•

At le

ast 5

00 n

urse

ries

estab

lishe

d in

key l

ocati

ons,

inclu

ding

Kan

daha

r and

M

azar-

e-Sh

arif

MAI

L, M

inistr

y of

Econ

omy,

Afgh

anist

an

Indep

ende

nt La

nd

Auth

ority

, Afg

hanis

tanNa

tiona

l Hor

ticul

ture

Deve

lopm

ent

Orga

nizati

on1.

4.3.

Sup

port

exist

ing ef

forts

to d

evelo

p a c

ertif

ied fr

uit tr

ees p

rogr

amm

e.

• W

ork w

ith A

NNGO

to su

ppor

t the

expa

nsion

of pr

ogram

mes

for t

he de

velo

pmen

t of d

iseas

e-fre

e cer

tifica

tion s

chem

es. A

sses

s the

sta-

tus o

f the

ANN

GO in

itiati

ve an

d id

entif

y area

s of s

uppo

rt req

uired

. If n

eces

sary

: –

Advo

cate

and

enlis

t the

supp

ort o

f farm

ers’

grou

ps, u

nions

and

coop

erati

ves,

as w

ell as

inpu

t dea

lers.

–Fu

rther

defi

ne th

e ro

les o

f MAI

L an

d AN

NGO,

as w

ell as

oth

er re

levan

t ins

titut

ions

, inc

ludi

ng th

e Af

ghan

istan

Nati

onal

Stan

dard

s Au

thor

ity ( A

NSA )

.•

Deve

lop

a pro

posa

l to

stren

gthe

n th

e hum

an re

sour

ce ca

pacit

y of s

eed

certi

ficati

on b

odies

.

3•

Asse

ssm

ent o

f exis

ting

certi

ficati

on p

rogr

amm

es

avail

able

• Pr

opos

al fo

r stre

ngth

ening

an

d ex

pand

ing av

ailab

le sc

hem

es is

dev

elope

d an

d co

rrecti

ve m

easu

res ar

e in

plac

e

MAI

L, A

NNGO

1.4.

4. La

unch

an in

itiati

ve to

mul

tiply

impr

oved

seed

varie

ties.

Parti

cular

ly, co

nsid

ering

the o

fficia

l see

d pr

oduc

tion

syste

m ( A

RIA,

Im

prov

ed S

eeds

Ent

erpr

ises,

and

priva

te co

mpa

nies )

do

not p

rodu

ce su

fficie

nt q

uant

ities

of s

eeds

( i.e.

vege

tables

), de

sign

and

launc

h an

initi

ative

focu

sing

on ve

getab

le se

ed p

rodu

ction

.

• Es

tablis

h se

ed m

ultip

licati

on p

artn

ersh

ips

by in

crea

sing

techn

ical c

oope

ratio

n an

d co

ordi

natio

n wi

th s

eed

indus

tries

and

insti

tutes

th

roug

h m

onth

ly m

eetin

gs.

• Su

ppor

t see

d en

terpr

ises t

o pr

oduc

e im

prov

ed /

certi

fied

vege

table

seed

s.•

Stren

gthe

n ex

isting

seed

mul

tiplic

ation

initi

ative

s, su

ch as

the a

bove

-men

tione

d.

2•

Prog

ramm

e for

mul

tiplic

ation

of

impr

oved

seed

varie

ties

launc

hed

MAI

L, A

NNGO

, MoC

I

66


Stra

tegi

c ob

ject

ive

1 : In

crea

se v

olum

es o

f pro

duct

ion

and

impr

ove

pric

e co

mpe

titiv

enes

s.

Oper

atio

nal

obje

ctiv

esAc

tiviti

esPr

iorit

y 1=

high

2=

med

3=

low

Impl

emen

tatio

n pe

riod

Targ

ets*

Lead

and

sup

porti

ng

impl

emen

ters

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

1.4.

Ens

ure

and

prom

ote

the

use

of

certi

fied,

mar

ket-

orie

nted

see

ds a

nd

youn

g tre

es.

1.4.

5. D

evelo

p a m

ulti-

tier p

rogr

amm

e to

prom

ote t

he u

se an

d cu

ltiva

tion

of h

igh-

yield

ing m

arket-

drive

n cr

ops t

o far

mer

s, far

mer

s’ as

socia

tions

, coo

perat

ives a

nd u

nions

, as a

mea

ns to

bot

h inc

rease

yield

s and

impr

ove t

he d

issem

inatio

n of

mark

et inf

orm

ation

and

input

dist

ribut

ion

servi

ces.

Prom

ote s

pecif

ic va

rietie

s bas

ed o

n lo

cal a

groc

limati

c con

ditio

ns, p

redict

able

mark

et de

man

d an

d m

arket

perfo

rman

ce.

• Se

t up

an in

stitu

tiona

l and

tech

nical

fram

ewor

k to

desig

n an

d im

plem

ent t

he p

rogr

amm

e. Am

ong

the m

ain ac

tiviti

es, i

nclu

de :

–Cr

eate

mot

her t

ree n

urse

ries,

to fu

nctio

n als

o as

dem

onstr

ation

farm

s for

bes

t prac

tices

on

seed

selec

tion,

pro

ducti

on an

d qu

ality

contr

ol, t

argeti

ng fa

rmer

s and

exten

sion a

gents

thro

ugh t

he pr

ovisi

on of

parti

cipato

ry tra

ining

s. Pr

ovid

e tec

hnica

l sup

port

to fa

rmer

s on

varie

ty se

lectio

n ( h

igh-

quali

ty an

d di

seas

e-fre

e vari

eties

) and

inten

sive c

ultiv

ation

of f

ruits

/ ve

getab

les.

–Or

gani

ze p

erio

dic

info

rmati

onal

mee

tings

betw

een

trade

rs, p

roce

ssor

s an

d re

pres

entat

ives

of fa

rmer

s as

socia

tions

to e

xcha

nge

infor

mati

on o

n m

arket-

relate

d iss

ues s

uch

as p

ricing

and

varie

tal m

arket

requir

emen

ts. P

rovid

e co

achin

g du

ring

mee

tings

to o

p-tim

ize in

form

ation

flow

and

relev

ance

. –

Desig

n and

roll

out s

hort

cour

ses t

o stre

ngth

en th

e mark

eting

skill

s and

mark

et inf

orm

ation

know

ledge

of ex

tensio

n staf

f. Top

ics to

inc

lude

: mark

et op

portu

nities

for l

ocal

varie

ties,

such

as n

iche m

arkets

( inc

ludi

ng o

rgan

ic ) a

nd p

remium

s.

2•

A pl

an to

pro

mot

e hig

h-yie

lding

seed

s is d

evelo

ped

MAI

L, A

NNGO

, MoC

I

1.5.

Incr

ease

the

qual

ity o

f and

ac-

cess

to e

xten

sion

se

rvic

es.

1.5.

1. R

einfo

rce t

he im

plem

entat

ion

and

enfo

rcem

ent o

f the

Stra

tegic

Fram

ewor

k of M

AIL o

n ex

tensio

n se

rvice

s.

• De

fine

role

s an

d re

spon

sibili

ties

of in

stitu

tions

in e

xtens

ion

serv

ices

pro

visio

n an

d fo

rmali

ze th

em th

roug

h m

emor

andu

ms

of

unde

rstan

ding

.•

Harm

onize

exten

sion s

ervic

es by

deve

lopi

ng m

inim

um se

rvice

stan

dard

s and

sugg

est s

teps t

o im

prov

e coo

rdina

tion b

etwee

n the

pub-

lic se

ctor,

priva

te se

ctor a

nd d

evelo

pmen

t age

ncies

.•

Requ

est a

dvice

on

best

prac

tices

and

mini

mum

servi

ce st

anda

rds o

f exte

nsio

n se

rvice

s fro

m In

dia.

2•

Strat

egic

Fram

ewor

k of M

AIL

on ex

tensio

n se

rvice

s rev

ised

• M

inim

um se

rvice

stan

dard

s de

velo

ped

MAI

L, M

inistr

y of

Labo

ur, S

ocial

Af

fairs,

Mar

tyrs a

nd

Disa

bled

( MoL

SAM

D ),

Mini

stry o

f Edu

catio

n,

Mini

stry o

f Hig

her

Educ

ation

, Mini

stry o

f Co

mm

unica

tions

and

Infor

mati

on Te

chno

logy

1.5.

2. Id

entif

y inc

entiv

es to

exten

d th

e pres

ence

of e

xtens

ion

agen

ts ac

ross

the c

ount

ry.

• Co

nduc

t a su

rvey t

o id

entif

y pot

entia

l inc

entiv

es ( e

.g.,

finan

cial,

hous

ing, t

ravel

allow

ance

s, m

edica

l allo

wanc

es, e

duca

tiona

l allo

w-an

ces f

or ch

ildren

, etc.

) for

exten

sion

agen

ts to

wor

k in

the m

ost d

ifficu

lt are

as.

• Ide

ntify

and

estab

lish

reward

s and

ince

ntive

s to

mot

ivate

quali

fied

exten

sion

agen

ts, su

ch as

opp

ortu

nities

to co

ntinu

e hig

her e

duca

-tio

n, an

d en

cour

age t

hem

to fo

rm p

rofes

siona

l soc

ieties

.

3•

Surve

y con

ducte

d•

Incen

tives

iden

tified

MAI

L, M

oLSA

MD

1.5.

3. C

reate

a sch

eme t

o inc

rease

the r

etent

ion

of q

ualif

ied m

anag

emen

t and

tech

nical

staff

in ex

tensio

n se

rvice

s.

• De

velo

p a c

areer

stru

cture

for p

ublic

secto

r exte

nsio

n pe

rsonn

el as

par

t of a

sche

me t

o im

prov

e rew

ards a

nd in

cent

ives.

• Pr

ovid

e con

tinuo

us tr

aining

to ex

tensio

n pe

rsonn

el as

par

t of t

heir

caree

r dev

elopm

ent.

• Pr

ovid

e trai

ning

in tec

hnica

l and

man

ager

ial sk

ills t

o ex

tensio

n pe

rsonn

el to

enab

le th

em to

occ

upy h

ighe

r pos

ition

s.

2•

Sche

me t

o ret

ain q

ualif

ied

man

agem

ent a

nd te

chnic

al sta

ff in

exten

sion

servi

ces

deve

lope

d

MAI

L, M

oLSA

MD,

M

inistr

y of H

ighe

r Ed

ucati

on, M

inistr

y of

Educ

ation

1.5.

4. D

evelo

p a p

rogr

amm

e to

certi

fy fem

ale ex

tensio

n se

rvice

pro

vider

s.

• Tra

in wo

men

exten

sion s

ervic

e pro

vider

s to e

nabl

e wom

en-to

-wom

en se

rvice

deliv

ery a

t eve

ry sta

ge of

the v

alue c

hain,

with

parti

cular

em

phas

is on

the e

arly s

tages

of t

he va

lue c

hain

( e.g

. harv

estin

g, so

rting

) whe

re th

ere is

a str

ong

female

pres

ence

.

2•

At le

ast 5

0 fem

ale ex

tensio

n se

rvice

pro

vider

s are

recru

ited

and

traine

d

Min

istry

of W

omen

’s

Affa

irs, M

AIL,

MoL

SAM

D, M

inistr

y of

Hig

her E

duca

tion,

M

inistr

y of E

duca

tion

1.5.

5. D

esig

n an

d im

plem

ent s

olut

ions

for r

emot

e deli

very

of ex

tensio

n se

rvice

s.

• La

unch

an

agric

ultu

re co

achin

g tel

evisi

on p

rogr

amm

e an

d de

velo

p rad

io s

pots

to re

ach

farm

ers

in ru

ral a

reas,

to o

verc

ome

limite

d m

obili

ty.•

Deve

lop

a pro

gram

me t

o int

rodu

ce a

free ‘

farm

er he

lplin

e’ th

roug

h MAI

L, us

ing m

obile

pho

nes a

nd in

par

tner

ship

with

mob

ile se

rvice

pr

ovid

ers,

to fu

nctio

n on a

daily

basis

. Fea

tures

wou

ld in

clude

the r

egist

ration

of fa

rmer

s for

the h

elplin

e ser

vice a

nd th

e esta

blish

men

t of

a ce

ntral

offi

ce o

perat

ed b

y agr

icultu

ral ex

perts

. This

servi

ce w

ould

be a

ble t

o pr

ovid

e inf

orm

ation

to il

liter

ate p

eopl

e in r

ural

areas

. Th

e farm

er h

elplin

e will

also

supp

ort t

he id

entif

icatio

n of

com

mon

pro

blem

s and

tren

ds fa

ced

by se

ctor f

armer

s.

2•

Agric

ultu

ral te

levisi

on

prog

ramm

e and

four

radi

o sp

ots a

re de

velo

ped

and

broa

dcas

t

MAI

L, M

oLSA

MD,

M

inistr

y of

Com

mun

icatio

ns an

d Inf

orm

ation

Tech

nolo

gy


67

Stra

tegi

c ob

ject

ive

1 : In

crea

se v

olum

es o

f pro

duct

ion

and

impr

ove

pric

e co

mpe

titiv

enes

s.

Oper

atio

nal

obje

ctiv

esAc

tiviti

esPr

iorit

y 1=

high

2=

med

3=

low

Impl

emen

tatio

n pe

riod

Targ

ets*

Lead

and

sup

porti

ng

impl

emen

ters

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

1.5.

Incr

ease

the

qual

ity o

f and

ac-

cess

to e

xten

sion

se

rvic

es.

1.5.

6. C

apac

itate

input

dea

lers t

o pr

ovid

e exte

nsio

n se

rvice

s.

• Th

roug

h sh

ort c

ourse

s and

wor

ksho

ps, e

ncou

rage i

nput

dea

lers t

o pr

ovid

e exte

nsio

n se

rvice

s to

farm

ers.

• Tra

in inp

ut d

ealer

s in :

–Be

st pr

actic

es fo

r pro

ducti

on in

the s

ecto

r. –

Use o

f cer

tified

inpu

ts.•

Prop

er ap

plica

tion

of in

puts

( e.g

. dos

es o

f fer

tilize

rs ).

2•

An an

nual

shor

t cou

rse is

ro

lled

out,

bene

fiting

50

input

dea

lers y

early

MAI

L, M

inistr

y of

Educ

ation

, Mini

stry

of H

ighe

r Edu

catio

n M

oLSA

MD

1.6.

Pro

mot

e kn

owle

dge

of b

est

prac

tices

in th

e se

ctor

.

1.6.

1. D

esig

n a m

aster

train

ing p

rogr

amm

e to

fom

ent b

est p

ractic

es in

the s

ecto

r.

• Co

mm

ittee

on

skill

s dev

elopm

ent t

o su

ppor

t the

des

ign

of a

mas

ter tr

aining

pro

gram

me o

n be

st pr

actic

es in

pro

ducti

on, h

arves

t and

po

stharv

est h

andl

ing.

• De

velo

p cu

rricu

la an

d tra

ining

mate

rials.

• Ide

ntify

key f

armer

s’ or

ganiz

ation

s, co

oper

ative

s and

unio

ns to

serve

as n

uclei

for s

elect

pilo

t init

iative

s : –

Evalu

ate th

e rea

ch o

f farm

ers’

orga

nizati

ons a

nd th

eir p

ast w

ork i

n th

e sec

tor v

alue c

hain.

–Ev

aluate

the i

mpl

emen

tatio

n ca

pacit

y of s

electe

d or

ganiz

ation

s and

crea

te a p

rofil

e for

each

org

aniza

tion.

• Tra

in fac

ilitat

ors i

n m

odul

es in

cludi

ng :

–Pr

oduc

tion,

pos

tharv

est a

nd p

lannin

g fo

r farm

ers.

–Ho

w do

es th

e mark

et wo

rk? –

Wha

t is v

alue a

dditi

on? H

ow is

valu

e add

ed?

–W

hat d

o bu

yers

want

? ( do

mes

tic an

d fo

reign

buy

er re

quire

men

ts ).

–Co

ntrac

ts, n

egot

iatio

ns an

d bu

ilding

relat

ions

hips.

1•

Mas

ter tr

aining

pro

gram

me

desig

ned

• At

leas

t 50

facili

tator

s are

traine

d

MAI

L, M

inistr

y of

Educ

ation

1.6.

2. R

oll o

ut th

e mas

ter tr

aining

pro

gram

me i

n th

e main

pro

ducin

g pr

ovinc

es o

f Afg

hanis

tan :

• De

velo

p de

mon

strati

on p

lots

in far

mer

field

sch

ools

to s

howc

ase

the

use

of a

ltern

ative

gro

wing

sys

tems

( e.g

. diff

eren

t sys

tems

of

grap

e trel

lising

) and

stim

ulate

disc

ussio

n of

their

pot

entia

l ben

efits.

• Th

roug

h prac

tical

traini

ng ( e

.g. in

farm

er fie

ld sc

hool

s ), c

apac

itate

farm

ers i

n bes

t farm

ing pr

actic

es, c

over

ing ha

rvesti

ng an

d pos

thar-

vest

hand

ling,

with

an em

phas

is on

sanit

ary an

d ph

ytosa

nitary

issu

es an

d tec

hnica

l barr

iers t

o tra

de. T

opics

to in

clude

: –

Pre-

harve

sting

: »

Prop

er u

se o

f cer

tified

seed

s. »

Prac

tical

dem

onstr

ation

s of b

est p

ractic

es o

n pr

oduc

tion

prac

tices

, e.g

. thin

ning,

pru

ning,

reco

mm

enda

tions

of f

ertil

izers

and

pesti

cides

( inc

ludi

ng en

ablin

g th

e ide

ntifi

catio

n of

alter

ed p

estic

ides

). »

Impr

oving

meth

ods o

f irri

gatio

n m

anag

emen

t ( Im

prov

ed, l

ow-c

ost a

nd w

ater s

aving

tech

nolo

gy ).*

–Ha

rvesti

ng :

»Be

st pr

actic

es in

harv

estin

g tec

hniq

ues (

e.g.

tim

ing o

f harv

est ).

Crea

te aw

arene

ss o

n lo

ss o

f qua

lity,

unifo

rmity

and

pro

duct

valu

e ( e.

g. id

eal h

arves

ting

time t

o m

axim

ize su

gar c

onten

t ) wh

en p

ractis

ing in

adeq

uate

harve

sting

meth

ods.

–Po

stharv

est :

»So

rting

, grad

ing o

f pro

ducts

. »

Pest

cont

rol i

n sto

rage f

acili

ties.

• Co

mpl

emen

t prac

tical

traini

ng w

ith d

issem

inatio

n of

info

rmati

on o

n be

st far

ming

prac

tices

thro

ugh

othe

r cha

nnels

, inc

ludi

ng w

ork-

shop

s to

farm

ers’

asso

ciatio

ns, r

adio

pro

gram

mes

, pos

ters a

nd le

aflets

.

1•

Mas

ter tr

aining

pro

gram

me

rolle

d ou

t and

ben

efitin

g 2,

000

farm

ers

MAI

L, M

inistr

y of

Educ

ation

, Mini

stry o

f Co

mm

unica

tion

and

Infor

mati

on Te

chno

logy

* S

peci

fic a

ctio

ns to

impr

ove

irrig

atio

n m

anag

emen

t sys

tem

s ha

ve b

een

outli

ned

by th

e E

xecu

tive

Com

mitt

ee o

n P

rivat

e S

ecto

r Dev

elop

men

t, W

orki

ng G

roup

2: A

gric

ultu

re, T

rade

and

SM

Es

(Priv

ate

Sec

tor R

efor

m P

riorit

y #

1). T

he F

resh

Fru

its a

nd V

eget

able

s S

trate

gy is

alig

ned

to a

nd s

uppo

rtive

of t

hese

effo

rts.

68


Stra

tegi

c ob

ject

ive

1 : In

crea

se v

olum

es o

f pro

duct

ion

and

impr

ove

pric

e co

mpe

titiv

enes

s.

Oper

atio

nal

obje

ctiv

esAc

tiviti

esPr

iorit

y 1=

high

2=

med

3=

low

Impl

emen

tatio

n pe

riod

Targ

ets*

Lead

and

sup

porti

ng

impl

emen

ters

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

1.6.

Pro

mot

e kn

owle

dge

of b

est

prac

tices

in th

e se

ctor

.

1.6.

3. S

uppo

rt th

e sec

tor w

ith ef

fectiv

e R&D

and

best

prac

tices

dev

elopm

ent.

• En

cour

age R

&D ac

tiviti

es re

lated

to fr

uit an

d ve

getab

le pr

oduc

ts. To

pics

to in

clude

: –

Basic

rese

arch

for n

ew va

rietie

s pro

ducti

on ( e

.g. v

egeta

ble h

ybrid

seed

pro

ducti

on ).

–Pe

st co

ntro

l. –

Posth

arves

t man

agem

ent.

–Im

prov

emen

t of c

rop

varie

ties (

high

-yiel

ding

resis

tant v

arieti

es an

d hy

brid

s ).

–M

ethod

s to

exten

d se

ason

pro

ducti

on ( g

reenh

ouse

hor

ticul

ture

prod

uctio

n, lo

w tu

nnel

prop

agati

on o

f see

dling

s ).

–Inn

ovati

ons i

n pa

ckag

ing.

–Al

terna

tive s

torag

e meth

ods.

• Di

ssem

inate

resul

ts th

roug

h tri

als an

d de

mon

strati

ons t

o pr

oduc

ers’

asso

ciatio

ns.

• De

velo

p pi

lot i

nitia

tives

and

app

ly pi

lot d

emon

strati

on tr

ials

( field

exp

erim

ents

) to

new

varie

ties,

new

crop

s an

d ne

w pr

oduc

tion

techn

olog

ies.

• Or

ganiz

e exc

hang

e pro

gram

mes

betw

een A

fgha

n MSM

Es, p

rodu

cers’

asso

ciatio

ns, a

gron

omist

s and

exten

sion w

orke

rs wi

th the

ir pe

ers

in ot

her c

ount

ries (

e.g.

Indi

a, Pa

kistan

) to

enco

urag

e exc

hang

e of b

est p

ractic

es.

3•

Ten

resea

rch

studi

es

cond

ucted

on

diffe

rent t

opics

• Fiv

e pilo

t dem

onstr

ation

s pe

r yea

r•

Two

flags

hip p

rojec

ts pe

r ye

ar•

Two

exch

ange

pro

gram

mes

or

ganiz

ed p

er ye

ar

Afgh

anis

tan

Rese

arch

an

d Ev

alua

tion

Unit,

Pl

ant B

iotec

hnol

ogy

Labo

rator

y, M

AIL,

Mini

stry o

f Rur

al Re

habi

litati

on

and

Deve

lopm

ent

( Afg

hanis

tan In

stitu

te of

Rur

al De

velo

pmen

t ),

Mini

stry o

f Pub

lic

Healt

h

1.7.

Stre

ngth

en

and

expa

nd c

om-

mer

cial

farm

ing.

1.7.

1. Tr

ain co

mm

ercial

orc

hard

man

ager

s thr

ough

the d

esig

n an

d de

velo

pmen

t of s

hort

cour

ses o

n :

• Ide

ntifi

catio

n of

goo

d qu

ality

plan

ting

mate

rial.

• Ef

ficien

t use

of w

ater a

nd al

terna

tive i

rriga

tion

syste

ms.

• Bu

sines

s and

orch

ard m

anag

emen

t and

mec

haniz

ation

( eco

nom

ic ret

urn o

n inv

estm

ent ;

shor

test le

ad tim

e to f

irst c

omm

ercial

harve

st ;

cons

isten

cy o

f pro

ducti

on, i

nclu

ding

yield

and

quali

ty ).

• M

arketi

ng, m

eetin

g m

arket

dem

and

( mark

et-or

iented

varie

ties,

with

long

shelf

life

and

easil

y tran

spor

table

).

2•

Four

shor

t cou

rses

deve

lope

d•

Shor

t cou

rses b

enefi

t 50

com

merc

ial o

rcha

rd

man

ager

s per

year

MoC

I, M

AIL

1.7.

2. F

acili

tate a

cces

s to

gove

rnm

ental

land

s for

com

merc

ial p

urpo

ses r

eleva

nt fo

r the

secto

r. As

a pr

iorit

y, fac

ilitat

e acc

ess t

o lan

d fo

r the

estab

lishm

ent o

f com

merc

ial h

igh-

dens

ity o

rcha

rds a

nd vi

neya

rds.

This

will

invol

ve cl

ear a

nd tr

ansp

arent

pro

cess

es fo

r pur-

chas

ing an

d lea

sing

land.

• De

velo

p an

inve

ntor

y of a

vaila

ble

land,

takin

g int

o ac

coun

t pro

ducti

on ar

eas,

basic

infra

struc

ture

avail

able

( e.g

. wate

r ) an

d tra

nspo

rt ro

utes

. Dev

elop

a com

preh

ensiv

e cor

respo

nding

repo

rt fo

r eac

h id

entif

ied av

ailab

le lan

d are

a.•

Diss

emina

te th

e lis

t thr

ough

wor

ksho

ps an

d ot

her d

issem

inatio

n ch

anne

ls, su

ch as

pos

ters a

nd n

ewsle

tters,

at th

e na

tiona

l and

pro

-vin

cial l

evels

. Targ

et au

dien

ce s

houl

d be

ass

ociat

ions

and

pro

duce

rs, a

nd d

iaspo

ra as

socia

tions

. Pro

vide

assis

tance

for l

and

regis-

tratio

n, as

requ

ired.

2•

An in

vent

ory o

f ava

ilabl

e go

vern

men

t lan

d in

at lea

st fiv

e pro

vince

s is c

reated

• At

leas

t 15–

20 re

ports

are

deve

lope

d an

d di

ssem

inated

MoF

, MAI

L

1.7.

3. D

esig

n an

d es

tablis

h an

agric

ultu

re inv

estm

ent f

und.

• Es

tablis

h a t

ask f

orce

com

pose

d of

com

merc

ial b

anks

, sec

tor a

ssoc

iatio

ns an

d ot

her r

eleva

nt st

akeh

olde

rs.•

Unde

rtake

a de

tailed

bas

eline

diag

nosis

of t

he su

pply

and

dem

and

for a

gricu

ltural

fina

nce b

ased

on

Islam

ic ba

nking

prin

ciples

at th

e co

untry

leve

l. As

sess

and

iden

tify s

olut

ions

for v

ariou

s cate

gorie

s of f

armer

s, su

ch as

nur

sery

man

ager

s, sm

allho

lder

s, co

mm

ercial

far

mer

s and

agrib

usine

sses

, alo

ng w

ith la

rger

com

merc

ial fa

rmer

s and

corp

orate

agrib

usine

sses

, thr

ough

a pa

rticip

atory

proc

ess.

• Pr

ovid

e a

parti

cular

focu

s to

sup

port

the

deve

lopm

ent o

f cre

dit p

rogr

amm

es to

impr

ove

acce

ss to

fina

nce

for t

he e

stabl

ishm

ent o

f co

mm

ercial

orc

hard

s•

Base

d on

find

ings,

deve

lop

affor

dabl

e loa

ns fo

r eac

h ca

tegor

y.

2•

Agric

ultu

re inv

estm

ent f

und

oper

ation

alM

oF, M

AIL,

High

Ec

onom

ic Co

uncil

1.7.

4. C

ondu

ct ca

pacit

y-bu

ilding

wor

ksho

ps ta

rgeti

ng fa

rmer

s and

asso

ciatio

ns o

n fin

ancia

l ins

trum

ents

avail

able

for t

he se

ctor (

e.g.

inc

ludi

ng se

rvice

s ava

ilabl

e thr

ough

the p

ropo

sed

agric

ultu

re inv

estm

ent f

und )

.3

• At

leas

t 500

pro

duce

rs,

com

merc

ial fa

mer

s and

co

rpor

ate ag

ribus

iness

es

receiv

e cap

acity

-buil

ding

wo

rksho

ps

MoF

, MAI

L


69

Stra

tegi

c ob

ject

ive

2 : R

educ

e po

stha

rves

t los

ses

acro

ss th

e va

lue

chai

n by

add

ress

ing

tech

nica

l and

non

-tech

nica

l iss

ues.

Oper

atio

nal

obje

ctiv

esAc

tiviti

esPr

iorit

y 1=

high

2=

med

3=

low

Impl

emen

tatio

n pe

riod

Targ

ets

Lead

and

sup

porti

ng

impl

emen

ters

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2.1.

Bui

ld te

chni

cal

capa

citie

s to

redu

ce

post

harv

est l

osse

s at

cur

rent

infra

-st

ruct

ure

leve

ls.

2.1.

1. Te

chnic

al co

mm

ittee

on

cold

chain

dev

elopm

ent t

o lea

d th

e fol

lowi

ng ac

tiviti

es :

• De

velo

p gu

ideli

nes a

nd re

com

men

datio

ns to

assu

re m

axim

um q

ualit

y and

mini

mum

spoi

lage o

f FFV

.•

Increa

se co

llabo

ration

and c

oope

ration

with

gove

rnm

ents

such

as th

ose o

f India

, the N

ether

lands

and F

rance

to in

creas

e kno

wled

ge ex

chan

ge

on av

ailab

le tec

hnol

ogies

thro

ugh

capa

city-

build

ing p

rogr

amm

es an

d pr

omot

ion

of P

PPs,

inclu

ding

exch

ange

s of b

usine

ss d

elega

tions

.•

Cons

ider

ing c

urren

t col

d ch

ain in

frastr

uctu

re ga

ps, a

nd d

evelo

p pr

actic

al gu

ideli

nes

and

recom

men

datio

ns to

ass

ure

max

imum

qua

lity

and

mini

mum

spoi

lage o

f FFV

.•

Ident

ify b

est p

ractic

es to

ove

rcom

e co

ld c

hain

infras

tructu

re de

ficien

cies t

hrou

gh p

ractic

al ad

vice

in ali

gnm

ent w

ith fo

od sa

fety r

ecom

-m

enda

tions

, at a

ll va

lue c

hain

stage

s, su

ch as

: –

Prod

uctio

n –

Harve

st »

Optim

um h

arves

ting

times

for e

ach

crop

»Ha

ndlin

g rec

omm

enda

tions

. –

Posth

arves

t trea

tmen

ts »

Pack

ing ad

vice t

o av

oid

deter

iorat

ion

( e.g

. stac

king )

»En

cour

age v

alue a

dded

servi

ces,

inclu

ding

grad

ing an

d so

rting

»Co

oling

and

trans

port

optio

ns ( e

.g. h

ow to

crea

te air

flow

s for

bul

k loa

ds ).

1•

Guid

eline

s dev

elope

dAN

SA, M

AIL,

Mini

stry

of Tr

ansp

ort a

nd C

ivil

Aviat

ion

2.1.

2. D

evelo

p a t

rainin

g pr

ogram

me (

cold

chain

train

ing ),

targe

ting

key a

ctors

acro

ss th

e valu

e cha

in to

diss

emina

te rec

omm

enda

tions

to

prod

ucer

s and

com

panie

s, an

d ca

pacit

ate th

em th

roug

h wo

rksho

ps.

• De

sign

a cu

rricu

lum

and

train

ing m

ateria

ls in

conf

orm

ity w

ith d

evelo

ped

guid

eline

s an

d tai

lored

to re

levan

t valu

e ch

ain a

ctors

such

as

prod

ucer

s, as

well

as o

perat

ing st

aff o

f exis

ting

facili

ties.

• Tra

in fac

ilitat

ors o

n de

velo

ped

guid

eline

s and

supp

ort e

xistin

g / n

ew tr

aining

and

voca

tiona

l pro

gram

mes

.•

Supp

ort p

rivate

-sec

tor-l

ed p

rofes

siona

l dev

elopm

ent o

ppor

tunit

ies fo

r exp

erts

and

com

panie

s wish

ing to

train

their

staff

.•

Roll

out t

he tr

aining

pro

gram

me t

hrou

gh ta

ilored

shor

t cou

rses.

2•

Traini

ng p

rogr

amm

e de

signe

d an

d ro

lled

out

• Sh

ort c

ourse

s de

livere

d an

nuall

y

ANSA

, MAI

L

2.1.

3. D

esig

n an

d ro

ll ou

t a ca

mpa

ign

( e.g

. man

uals,

pos

ters,

leafle

ts, w

ebsit

e pub

licati

on ) t

argeti

ng fa

rmer

s and

pos

tharv

est a

ctors

( har-

vesti

ng, p

acka

ging

, tran

spor

t ope

rator

s ) o

n be

st pr

actic

es to

pro

long

the s

helf

life o

f fres

h pr

oduc

e, ba

sed

on th

e guid

eline

s dev

elope

d.2

• An

nual

cam

paig

n ro

lled

out i

n fiv

e m

ain p

rodu

cing

prov

inces

MAI

L, A

NSA

2.2.

Upg

rade

col

d ch

ain

infra

stru

ctur

e.2.

2.1.

Enh

ance

and

deve

lop

cold

chain

servi

ces t

hrou

gh th

e dev

elopm

ent o

f a co

ld ch

ain sc

hem

e.

• Ba

sed

on o

ngoi

ng a

nd e

xistin

g re

searc

h re

gard

ing

the

cold

cha

in in

frastr

uctu

re n

eeds

of A

fgha

nista

n ( e

.g. R

oots

of P

eace

Cold

Cha

in Inf

rastr

uctur

e As

sess

men

t as P

art o

f Com

mer

cial H

ortic

ultur

e an

d Ag

ricult

ural

Mar

ketin

g Pr

oject

), pr

omot

e th

e es

tablis

hmen

t of s

pecia

l-ize

d ag

ricul

tural

FFV

logi

stics

and

trans

porta

tion

com

panie

s ( ( im

mob

ile in

frastr

uctu

re at

farm

gate

( e.g

. pac

khou

ses )

, sto

rage (

e.g.

bul

k co

ld w

areho

uses

) and

cold

dist

ribut

ion

hubs

( e.g

. col

d sto

re fo

r las

t-mile

acce

ss to

mark

ets ).

• De

velo

p a sc

hem

e for

the p

rom

otion

of ne

eded

cold

chain

servi

ces,

base

d on i

nstit

ution

al su

ppor

t and

econ

omic

incen

tives

for c

old c

hain

enter

prise

s to

start

and

grow

ope

ratio

ns. I

ncen

tives

to b

e con

sidere

d : –

Parti

al gr

ants

/ tax

ince

ntive

s fo

r col

d ch

ain in

frastr

uctu

re de

velo

pmen

t ( in

cludi

ng th

e tra

nspo

rt se

ctor ).

Com

preh

ensiv

e Ag

ricul

ture

and

Rural

Dev

elopm

ent –

Fac

ility

to in

crea

se th

e rati

o to

fina

nce c

old

storag

e pro

jects

from

60 :

40 to

80 :

20.

–La

nd fa

cilita

tion.

1•

Cold

chain

sche

me

deve

lope

dM

oCI (

Afgh

anis

tan

Inve

stm

ent S

uppo

rt Ag

ency

), M

oF, M

inistr

y of

Tran

spor

t and

Civi

l Av

iatio

n

2.2.

2. R

eview

impo

rt reg

ulati

ons (

parti

cular

ly im

port

dutie

s ) fo

r col

d ch

ain eq

uipm

ent,

inclu

ding

refri

gerat

ed va

ns. C

onsid

er re

ducin

g or

ex

empt

ing co

ld ch

ain eq

uipm

ent f

rom

impo

rt du

ties t

o pr

omot

e inv

estm

ent i

n an

d es

tablis

hmen

t of c

old

chain

infra

struc

ture.

2•

Impo

rt reg

ulati

ons

revise

d an

d co

rrecti

ve m

easu

res /

polic

ies in

tegrat

ed

MoC

I

70


Stra

tegi

c ob

ject

ive

2 : R

educ

e po

stha

rves

t los

ses

acro

ss th

e va

lue

chai

n by

add

ress

ing

tech

nica

l and

non

-tech

nica

l iss

ues.

Oper

atio

nal

obje

ctiv

esAc

tiviti

esPr

iorit

y 1=

high

2=

med

3=

low

Impl

emen

tatio

n pe

riod

Targ

ets

Lead

and

sup

porti

ng

impl

emen

ters

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2.2.

Upg

rade

col

d ch

ain

infra

stru

ctur

e.2.

2.3.

Dev

elop

a mod

el to

estab

lish

/ reh

abili

tate c

rop-

spec

ific s

torag

e fac

ilitie

s in

rural

area

s, us

ing lo

cal m

ateria

ls an

d bu

ilding

on

exist

-ing

tech

nique

s. Co

nsid

er th

e rep

urpo

sing

of re

frige

rated

ship

ping

cont

ainer

s for

buil

ding

cold

stor

age.

• Co

nsid

ering

powe

r sho

rtage

s, fo

cus o

n pro

mot

ing en

ergy e

fficie

ncy –

such

as co

ld-c

hain

solar

equip

men

t or t

he us

e of b

ioga

s – an

d low

ca

rbon

impr

int te

chno

logi

es th

roug

h R&

D an

d inv

estm

ent i

ncen

tives

.

2•

Mod

el de

signe

d an

d ro

lled

out

MAI

L

2.2.

4. B

ased

on

asse

ssm

ents

of th

e col

d ch

ain se

ctor,

estab

lish

large

stor

age f

acili

ties t

hrou

gh P

PPs o

utsid

e majo

r mark

ets, i

.e. K

abul

, He

rat, M

azar-

e-Sh

arif,

Jalal

abad

and

Kand

ahar,

as P

PPs.

• Pi

lot t

he e

stabl

ishm

ent o

f fou

r larg

e m

ulti-

crop

sto

rage

facil

ities

, fol

lowi

ng c

rop-

spec

ific

requ

irem

ents

for s

tora

ge ( b

ased

on

inter

na-

tiona

l stan

dard

s ).

1•

Estab

lish

four

larg

e sto

rage f

acili

ties

outsi

de m

ajor

mark

ets

Da A

fgha

nist

an B

ank,

M

AIL

2.2.

5. E

stabl

ish ad

equa

te ‘co

ld fa

ciliti

es’ a

t airp

orts

( e.g

. air

carg

o co

rrido

r with

Indi

a ) in

ord

er to

main

tain

prec

ise an

d co

ntinu

ous t

em-

perat

ure c

ondi

tions

in tr

ansit

.

• Tra

in ha

ndlin

g sta

ff to

ensu

re ad

heren

ce to

stan

dard

ope

rating

pro

cedu

res.

1•

One c

old

chain

fac

ility

at th

e airp

ort

• At

leas

t 10

hand

ling

staff

traine

d

MoC

I


71

Stra

tegi

c ob

ject

ive

3 : A

dd v

alue

by

impr

ovin

g po

stha

rves

t pra

ctic

es a

nd p

roce

ssin

g ca

paci

ties.

Oper

atio

nal

obje

ctiv

esAc

tiviti

esPr

iorit

y 1=

high

2=

med

3=

low

Impl

emen

tatio

n pe

riod

Targ

ets

Lead

and

sup

porti

ng

impl

emen

ters

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

3.1.

Upg

rade

sk

ills

in

agro

-pro

cess

ing.

3.1.

1. In

trodu

ce in

stitu

tiona

lized

arran

gem

ents

such

as an

advis

ory c

ounc

ils to

des

ign

and

impl

emen

t a sk

ills p

olicy

, inc

ludi

ng

priva

te se

ctor r

ecom

men

datio

ns, t

o he

lp en

sure

that

educ

ation

and

traini

ng p

rogr

amm

es ar

e rele

vant

to th

e nee

ds o

f the

secto

r.

• Se

t up

an in

stitu

tiona

l and

tech

nical

fram

ewor

k with

in th

e sec

tor c

oord

inatio

n pl

atfor

m, s

uch

as a

secto

r skil

ls co

uncil

, to

be re

-sp

onsib

le fo

r plan

ning

and

mon

itorin

g ind

ustry

-relat

ed tr

aining

and

skill

s dev

elopm

ent.

Secto

r skil

ls co

uncil

to b

e com

pose

d of

pr

ivate

secto

r rep

resen

tative

s, rel

evan

t univ

ersit

ies, a

nd te

chnic

al an

d vo

catio

nal e

duca

tion

and

traini

ng ( T

VET )

insti

tutio

ns, a

s we

ll as

mini

stries

in re

lated

secto

rs an

d th

e Mini

stry o

f Wom

en’s

Affai

rs.•

Ident

ify a

priva

te se

ctor i

nter

locu

tor t

o be

resp

onsib

le fo

r com

mun

icatio

n wi

th ac

adem

ia. T

he in

terlo

cuto

r mus

t hav

e inf

luen

ce

and

the s

uppo

rt of

oth

er p

rivate

secto

r stak

ehol

ders.

1•

Secto

r skil

ls co

uncil

es

tablis

hed

Min

istry

of E

duca

tion,

M

oLSA

MD,

MAI

L

3.1.

2. Th

e sec

tor s

kills

coun

cil w

ill id

entif

y job

roles

and

the c

ompe

tencie

s req

uired

for e

ach

job

role

in ali

gnm

ent w

ith th

e Na

tiona

l Occ

upati

onal

Skill

s Stan

dard

s.

• Sk

ills c

ounc

il to

disc

uss /

revis

e exis

ting

relev

ant N

ation

al Oc

cupa

tiona

l Skil

ls St

anda

rds f

or th

e sec

tor.

• Sk

ills co

uncil

to re

view

curri

cula

yearl

y, as

well

as se

ctor-r

eleva

nt co

urse

s, an

d pres

ent p

ropo

sals

for de

velop

men

t of n

ew co

urse

s to

be a

gree

d by

Mini

stry o

f Edu

catio

n.•

Estab

lish

mon

itorin

g m

easu

res to

dete

rmine

the

succ

ess

of th

e ad

juste

d / n

ew c

ourse

s an

d rev

ision

mec

hanis

ms

to c

ontin

ue

adap

ting

them

as th

e sec

tor e

volve

s.•

Cond

uct i

n-se

rvice

train

ing to

teac

hers

and

instru

ctors

in ne

w / ad

apted

cour

ses o

f key

univ

ersit

ies an

d tra

ining

cent

res.

2•

Relev

ant c

urric

ula r

evise

d ye

arly

• M

ain jo

b ro

les an

d co

mpe

tencie

s ide

ntifi

ed

Min

istry

of E

duca

tion,

M

oLSA

MD,

MAI

L

3.1.

3. P

reven

t ‘br

ain d

rain’

of sk

illed

pro

fessio

nals

in th

e sec

tor.

• De

velo

p inc

entiv

es to

impr

ove l

ocal

labou

r-mark

et co

nditi

ons i

n ord

er to

prev

ent e

mig

ration

of sk

illed

prof

essio

nals

in th

e sec

tor.

3•

Incen

tives

dev

elope

d an

d int

egrat

ed in

nati

onal

polic

yM

oLSA

MD

3.2.

Bui

ld fi

rms’

ca

paci

ties

to m

an-

age

thei

r sup

ply

chai

n in

line

with

in

tern

atio

nal f

ood

safe

ty p

ract

ices

.

3.2.

1. In

crea

se fi

rms’

capa

cities

to im

plem

ent f

ood

safet

y man

agem

ent s

ystem

s in

the s

uppl

y cha

in th

roug

h ro

lling

out

shor

t co

urse

s.

• De

velo

p cu

rricu

la an

d co

urse

mate

rials

on th

e fol

lowi

ng to

pics

: –

Busin

ess m

anag

emen

t –

Food

safet

y man

agem

ent.

• Pr

epare

train

ing m

anua

ls ac

cord

ingly.

• Co

nduc

t cou

rses t

o se

ctor s

mall

and

med

ium-s

ized

enter

prise

s ( SM

Es ) a

nd ex

porte

rs.

1•

Three

shor

t cou

rses t

argeti

ng

30 S

MEs

annu

ally

ANSA

, MoC

IM

AIL,

ACCI

3.2.

2. O

rgan

ize st

udy t

ours

for s

elect

firm

s to

unde

rstan

d fo

od sa

fety r

equir

emen

ts an

d be

st pr

oduc

tion

and

proc

essin

g pr

actic

es

in ke

y loc

ation

s ( e.

g. U

AE ).

3•

One s

tudy

tour

a ye

ar be

nefit

ing at

leas

t five

SM

EsM

oCI

MAI

L, AC

CI3.

3. Im

prov

e fo

od

safe

ty a

nd q

ualit

y as

sura

nce.

3.3.

1. U

pgrad

e pro

duct

testin

g inf

rastru

cture.

• Un

derta

ke a

cam

paig

n to

enc

ourag

e inv

estm

ent i

n a

state

of th

e ar

t lab

orato

ry, s

ampl

ing a

nd te

sting

facil

ity, b

ased

on

mark

et po

tentia

l.•

Lobb

y inv

esto

rs an

d tes

ting

firm

s to

alloc

ate re

sour

ces t

o id

entif

ied p

oten

tial p

rodu

ct tes

ting

facili

ties.

2•

At le

ast t

wo te

sting

facil

ities

es

tablis

hed

in ke

y loc

ation

s ou

tside

Kab

ul

Min

istry

of P

ublic

He

alth

, MAI

L, M

oF, M

oCI

( Afg

hanis

tan In

vestm

ent

Supp

ort A

genc

y )

3.3.

2. D

esig

n an

d im

plem

ent m

echa

nism

s to

ensu

re th

e tim

ely d

issem

inatio

n of

test

repor

ts on

plan

t dise

ases

to fa

rmer

s and

tra

ders.

2•

Mec

hanis

m es

tablis

hed

ANSA

3.3.

3. Im

prov

e the

tech

nical

capa

city f

or fo

od sa

fety a

nd q

ualit

y ass

uran

ce in

relev

ant i

nstit

utio

ns.

• Es

tablis

h a

traini

ng p

rogr

amm

e to

cer

tify

audi

tors

in Ha

zard

Ana

lysis

and

Criti

cal C

ontro

l Poi

nts,

Inter

natio

nal O

rgan

izatio

n fo

r St

anda

rdiza

tion

2000

, Brit

ish R

etail

Cons

ortiu

m, S

ocial

Acc

ount

abili

ty 80

00, e

tc. to

acce

lerate

the p

roce

ss o

f hig

her s

tanda

rdi-

zatio

n. E

xtend

the n

umbe

r of l

abor

atory

staff

to ke

y pro

vince

s.

1•

Traini

ng p

rogr

amm

e co

nduc

ted to

20

certi

fied

audi

tors

per y

ear

ANSA

72


Stra

tegi

c ob

ject

ive

3 : A

dd v

alue

by

impr

ovin

g po

stha

rves

t pra

ctic

es a

nd p

roce

ssin

g ca

paci

ties.

Oper

atio

nal

obje

ctiv

esAc

tiviti

esPr

iorit

y 1=

high

2=

med

3=

low

Impl

emen

tatio

n pe

riod

Targ

ets

Lead

and

sup

porti

ng

impl

emen

ters

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

3.3.

Impr

ove

food

sa

fety

and

qua

lity

assu

ranc

e.

3.3.

4. E

nhan

ce th

e abi

lity o

f loc

al ex

port

quali

ty m

anag

emen

t ser

vice p

rovid

ers t

hrou

gh a

traini

ng o

f trai

ners,

to en

able

them

to

offer

servi

ces a

nd su

ppor

t to

SMEs

in ex

port

quali

ty m

anag

emen

t on

a lon

g-ter

m b

asis.

• Ide

ntify

hos

t ins

titut

ions

to o

ffer t

rainin

g an

d ad

visor

y ser

vices

in q

ualit

y man

agem

ent.

• Ide

ntify

and

selec

t cor

e tea

ms o

f trai

ners

and

advis

ers.

• De

velo

p di

agno

stic t

ools

on th

e tec

hnica

l cap

aciti

es o

f ser

vice p

rovid

ers i

n qu

ality

man

agem

ent.

• Pr

epare

and

impl

emen

t tec

hnica

l wor

ksho

ps o

n qu

ality

man

agem

ent.

• Pr

epare

and

impl

emen

t wor

ksho

ps o

n tra

ining

and

advis

ory s

kills.

• Pr

ovid

e guid

ance

and

techn

ical s

uppo

rt to

loca

l ser

vice p

rovid

ers t

o de

velo

p an

d m

anag

e the

ir se

rvice

s.

1•

Traini

ng o

f trai

ners

rolle

d ou

t an

d co

nduc

ted to

50

quali

ty m

anag

emen

t ser

vice p

rovid

ers

ANSA

3.3.

5. D

evelo

p an

d ap

ply t

racea

bilit

y to

com

panie

s in

the F

FV se

ctor.

• Co

nsid

ering

com

pulso

ry req

uirem

ents

on tr

acea

bilit

y in

key t

arget

mark

ets –

e.g.

EU

– an

d th

e nee

d to

pro

tect t

he re

putat

ion

of

Afgh

an p

rodu

cts, d

evelo

p an

d ap

ply t

racea

bilit

y to

the F

FV se

ctor,

starti

ng w

ith a

small

num

ber o

f pro

ducin

g en

terpr

ises e

xpor

t-ing

fres

h pr

oduc

e and

then

expa

nding

the s

ystem

. Trac

eabi

lity t

o co

ver i

nput

s, pr

oduc

tion

and

distr

ibut

ion.

• Pr

ovid

e ong

oing

guid

ance

and

techn

ical s

uppo

rt.

2•

At le

ast 5

% o

f pro

ducti

on h

as

a trac

eabi

lity s

ystem

MAI

L, M

oCI,

ANSA

3.4.

Stim

ulat

e th

e es

tabl

ishm

ent a

nd

upgr

ade

of p

ro-

cess

ing

capa

citie

s.

3.4.

1. S

uppo

rt th

e main

tenan

ce /

expa

nsio

n of

indu

strial

park

s in

main

pro

ducin

g are

as. E

nsur

e the

qua

lity o

f inf

rastru

cture

such

as

elec

tricit

y and

wate

r sup

ply i

n ind

ustri

al pa

rks b

y pro

per m

ainten

ance

and

upgr

ading

of m

anag

emen

t sys

tems.

• Un

derta

ke an

inde

pend

ent s

tudy

to as

sess

the

level

of se

rvice

supp

ort,

techn

ical c

apac

ities

and

impl

emen

tatio

n of

activ

ities

in

indus

trial

parks

supp

ortin

g se

ctor f

irms.

• Ba

sed o

n ide

ntifi

ed ga

ps an

d flaw

s, de

sign a

nd im

plem

ent c

orrec

tive m

easu

res an

d tail

ored

wor

ksho

ps fo

r ind

ustri

al pa

rks’ m

an-

agem

ent s

taff (

e.g.

boo

kkee

ping

).•

Cond

uct fe

asibi

lity st

udies

in m

ajor l

ocati

ons f

or th

e esta

blish

men

t of a

gro-

focus

ed in

dustr

ial pa

rks, a

s a pu

blic–

priva

te inv

estm

ent.

• De

velo

p a p

ilot p

rojec

t in a

selec

t loc

ation

for a

n agr

o-fo

cuse

d ind

ustri

al pa

rk, w

ith b

asic

infras

tructu

re th

at se

ctor e

ntrep

reneu

rs ca

n lea

se fo

r the

setti

ng u

p of

food

pro

cess

ing an

d an

cillar

y unit

s.

1•

Indep

ende

nt st

udy c

arried

ou

t and

corre

ctive

mea

sures

in

plac

e•

Pilot

pro

ject d

esig

ned

and

impl

emen

ted

MoC

I, Af

ghan

istan

Ch

ambe

r of I

ndus

tries

and

Mine

s

3.4.

2. C

reate

links

betw

een

the e

duca

tion

secto

r and

agrib

usine

ss p

roce

ssor

s to

intro

duce

low-

cost

solu

tions

to re

habi

litate

inop

-er

ative

pro

cess

ing m

achin

ery.

Add

oper

ation

, main

tenan

ce an

d rep

air o

f com

mon

agrib

usine

ss p

roce

ssing

mac

hiner

y to

traini

ng p

rogr

amm

es in

key T

VET i

n-sti

tutio

ns an

d un

iversi

ties.

Asse

ss th

e skil

l req

uirem

ents

for t

he p

erfo

rman

ce o

f the

se ac

tiviti

es. A

djus

t the

TVET

curri

culu

m

acco

rding

ly.

2•

Cour

se d

evelo

ped

and

rolle

d ou

t in

three

TVET

insti

tutio

nsM

oCI,

MoF

A, M

inistr

y of

Educ

ation

, MoL

SAM

D

3.4.

3. O

rgan

ize eq

uipm

ent b

uyer

–sell

er m

eetin

gs in

Kab

ul at

tende

d by

equip

men

t man

ufac

turer

s and

supp

liers

as w

ell as

pot

en-

tial b

uyer

s ( un

ions

, firm

s, etc

. ).

• Th

e eve

nts s

houl

d be l

inked

to th

e sec

tor (

e.g.

proc

essin

g opp

ortu

nities

for F

FV ) w

ith in

trodu

ction

s by r

egio

nal a

nd in

terna

tiona

l co

mpa

nies a

nd va

lue c

hain

acto

rs.•

Equip

men

t sup

plier

s will

be i

nvite

d to

atten

d in

addi

tion

to va

lue c

hain

stake

hold

ers.

2•

Annu

al bu

yer–

selle

r mee

ting

in Ka

bul

ACCI

, Afg

hani

stan

Ch

ambe

r of I

ndus

tries

an

d M

ines

, MoC

I

3.4.

4. S

uppo

rt th

e ide

ntifi

catio

n of

pro

duct

dive

rsific

ation

opt

ions

thro

ugh

proc

essin

g ( e

.g. f

ruit

juice

s, se

parat

ing p

omeg

ranate

se

eds )

in d

omes

tic an

d int

erna

tiona

l mark

ets, b

ased

on

soun

ds m

arket

asse

ssm

ents.

• Es

tablis

h a gr

ant s

chem

e to p

rom

ote i

ncrea

sing t

he le

vel o

f pro

cess

ing an

d valu

e add

ition

in th

e sec

tor,

leadi

ng to

redu

ced w

ast-

age.

Sche

me t

o co

ver s

etting

up

of n

ew u

nits a

nd m

oder

nizati

on /

expa

nsio

n of

exist

ing u

nits.

• An

indi

cativ

e list

of a

ctivit

ies w

hich

may

be u

nder

taken

by p

roce

ssing

unit

s is g

iven

belo

w : –

Sorti

ng, g

rading

, was

hing,

wax

ing, p

eelin

g, cu

tting

, sizi

ng –

Blan

ching

, extr

actio

n, p

ulpi

ng –

Dryin

g, d

e-hu

lling

, spl

itting

, col

our s

ortin

g –

Pack

aging

facil

ities

like

cann

ing, v

acuu

m p

acka

ging

and

bottl

ing, a

mon

g ot

hers.

Prov

ide s

uppo

rt to

secto

r ass

ociat

ions

and

firm

s to

subm

it ap

plica

tions

thro

ugh

works

hops

.

2•

At le

ast 1

0 SM

Es ar

e su

ppor

ted to

upg

rade

proc

essin

g op

erati

ons

MoC

I, M

oFA


73

Stra

tegi

c ob

ject

ive

3 : A

dd v

alue

by

impr

ovin

g po

stha

rves

t pra

ctic

es a

nd p

roce

ssin

g ca

paci

ties.

Oper

atio

nal

obje

ctiv

esAc

tiviti

esPr

iorit

y 1=

high

2=

med

3=

low

Impl

emen

tatio

n pe

riod

Targ

ets

Lead

and

sup

porti

ng

impl

emen

ters

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

3.4.

Stim

ulat

e th

e es

tabl

ishm

ent a

nd

upgr

ade

of p

ro-

cess

ing

capa

citie

s.

3.4.

5. P

rom

ote i

nves

tmen

t in

agro

-indu

stry (

focu

sed

on fr

uits a

nd ve

getab

les p

roce

ssing

).

• Up

date

exist

ing li

st of

inve

stmen

t attr

actio

n op

portu

nities

( con

tinue

upd

ating

list

as th

e sec

tor e

volve

s ).

• Fa

cilita

te th

e pa

rticip

ation

of b

usine

ss a

ssoc

iatio

ns in

inve

stmen

t miss

ions

and

exh

ibiti

ons

to p

rom

ote

inves

tmen

t opp

ortu

ni-tie

s in

the s

ecto

r.•

Thro

ugh

onlin

e vid

eos,

conc

ept n

otes

and

broc

hures

, am

ong

othe

r com

mun

icatio

n m

ateria

ls, sh

owca

se in

vestm

ent o

ppor

tuni-

ties i

n th

e sec

tor.

1•

List o

f inc

entiv

es d

evelo

ped

• Tw

o inv

estm

ent m

issio

ns

a yea

r

MoC

I, M

oFA

3.5.

Impr

ove

pack

-ag

ing

prac

tices

.3.

5.1.

Cap

acita

te co

mpa

nies a

nd se

ctor a

ssoc

iatio

ns o

n tec

hnica

l req

uirem

ents

for p

acka

ging

, bas

ed o

n int

erna

tiona

l mark

et req

uirem

ents.

• Ca

pacit

ate co

mpa

nies t

hrou

gh ap

prop

riate

traini

ng fo

cuse

d on

pac

kagi

ng ( c

rop-

spec

ific )

. Mod

ules

to in

clude

: –

Type

s of p

acka

ging

mate

rial.

–De

sign

and

selec

tion

of p

acka

ging

mate

rial.

–Fo

od p

acka

ging

mac

hiner

y opt

ions

. –

Labe

lling

and

legisl

ation

, suc

h as t

he IS

PM 1

5 reg

ulati

on fo

r pac

kagi

ng an

d th

e Unit

ed S

tates

Food

, Dru

g an

d Co

smeti

c Act,

se

ction

409

. –

Com

plian

ce w

ith en

viron

men

tal co

ncer

ns an

d leg

islati

on o

f key

des

tinati

on co

untri

es.

–Re

using

and

recyc

ling

of p

acka

ging

. –

Mark

eting

advic

e on h

ow to

impr

ove p

acka

ging

for m

ore p

rofit

able

and s

ucce

ssful

acce

ss to

dom

estic

and e

xpor

t mark

ets an

d fo

r red

uced

pro

duct

loss

es al

ong

the v

alue c

hain.

• Co

mpil

e and

diss

emina

te ca

se st

udies

desc

ribing

how

com

panie

s can

redu

ce fo

od w

aste

throu

gh ne

w pr

oduc

t-pac

kagin

g solu

tions

.•

Prep

are tr

aining

man

uals

targe

ting

food

chain

acto

rs, ac

cord

ingly.

2•

Mod

ules

dev

elope

d•

Traini

ng m

anua

ls de

velo

ped

• Fif

ty SM

Es tr

ained

per

year

ANSA

, MoC

I

3.5.

2. C

reate

links

betw

een

regio

nal a

nd in

terna

tiona

l pac

kagi

ng su

pplie

rs an

d do

mes

tic co

mpa

nies.

• Th

roug

h th

e or

ganiz

ation

of f

airs,

crea

te bu

sines

s link

s betw

een

pack

aging

supp

liers

( dom

estic

and

inter

natio

nal )

and

dom

es-

tic co

mpa

nies.

3•

One f

air p

er ye

arM

AIL,

MoC

I

3.5.

3. In

alig

nmen

t with

activ

ity 2

.2.3

. ( sto

rage i

n ru

ral ar

eas )

, dev

elop

a pro

gram

me t

o ad

d se

rvice

s and

adap

t esta

blish

ed st

or-ag

e unit

s to

‘pac

khou

ses’

( e.g

. see

Indi

a mod

el ).

‘Pac

khou

ses’

to b

e use

d fo

r tem

porar

ily st

oring

, clea

ning,

grad

ing an

d pa

cking

far

m p

rodu

ce.

• Co

nduc

t a fe

asib

ility

study

.•

Deve

lop

requir

emen

ts ( e

.g. s

ize, v

entil

ation

, mate

rial )

for p

ackh

ouse

s, in

align

men

t with

inter

natio

nal s

tanda

rds a

nd c

onsid

er-ing

avail

able

cons

tructi

on m

ateria

ls.•

Cons

ider

the p

rovis

ion

of ad

equa

te eq

uipm

ent s

uch

as w

eighin

g m

achin

es an

d gr

ading

tabl

es, a

mon

g ot

hers.

• Pil

ot p

ackh

ouse

s in

main

pro

ducti

on p

rovin

ces.

2•

Twen

ty pa

ckho

uses

es

tablis

hed

per y

ear

MAI

L, M

oCI

74


Stra

tegi

c ob

ject

ive

4 : In

crea

se th

e se

ctor

’s c

apac

ity to

ent

er a

nd s

usta

in re

latio

nshi

ps in

dom

estic

and

inte

rnat

iona

l mar

kets

.

Oper

atio

nal o

bjec

tives

Activ

ities

Prio

rity

1=hi

gh

2=m

ed

3=lo

w

Impl

emen

tatio

n pe

riod

Targ

ets

Lead

and

sup

porti

ng

impl

emen

ters

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

4.1.

Enh

ance

the

qual

-ity

and

dis

sem

inat

ion

of m

arke

t int

ellig

ence

se

rvic

es.

4.1.

1. D

evelo

p sh

ort c

ourse

s to

enha

nce i

nter

natio

nal b

usine

ss ca

pacit

ies o

f sec

tor e

nter

prise

s. Co

urse

s sho

uld

cove

r :

• Un

derst

andi

ng d

oing

bus

iness

in A

fgha

nistan

, inc

lude

taxa

tion

coac

hing.

• Ex

porti

ng fr

om A

fgha

nistan

: exp

ort p

roce

dures

, inc

oter

ms,

prefe

rentia

l tari

ff tre

atmen

t.•

Nego

tiatio

n sk

ills a

nd cu

stom

er re

latio

nship

man

agem

ent.

• Pr

omot

ion

and

bran

ding

for f

ood

com

panie

s.

1•

Three

shor

t cou

rses

cond

ucted

to 5

0 SM

Es

annu

ally

MoC

I

4.1.

2. R

eview

/ up

date

exist

ing E

xpor

t Guid

e for

Fre

sh F

ruits

and

Vege

tables

Exp

orter

s ( i.e

. Roo

ts of

Peac

e ).

• Re

view

targe

t mark

ets to

be

addr

esse

d in

the

publ

icatio

n, s

uch

as th

e Ru

ssian

Fed

erati

on a

nd M

iddl

e Ea

stern

cou

ntrie

s, tai

lorin

g th

e exp

ort g

uide t

o fo

cus o

n th

e pro

ducts

with

the h

ighe

st m

arket

oppo

rtunit

ies in

such

coun

tries

.•

Inclu

de th

e fol

lowi

ng ke

y inf

orm

ation

: –

Mark

et pr

ospe

cts a

nd e

merg

ing tr

ends

( inc

ludi

ng p

rodu

ct de

finiti

ons

in ter

ms

of p

opul

ar va

rietie

s an

d fo

rms

of c

on-

sum

ptio

n, an

d pr

oces

sed

fruit

and

vege

table

prod

ucts

with

expo

rt po

tentia

l, e.g

. can

ned

tom

atoes

). –

Inter

natio

nal t

rade a

gree

men

ts wi

th se

lected

targ

et m

arkets

, if a

pplic

able.

–Ri

sks o

f ent

ering

the m

arket.

–Pa

ckag

ing le

gisla

tion

( ISPM

15 )

. –

Resp

ect f

or ta

rget

mark

et pr

oced

ures

. –

Lega

l pro

cedu

res.

–Di

strib

utio

n ch

anne

ls an

d di

recto

ry of

main

buy

ers i

n tar

get m

arkets

. –

Trade

fairs

avail

able

in-co

untry

. –

Price

s. –

Cont

act d

etails

of t

rade a

ttach

és.

2•

Guid

e rev

ised

and

upda

tedM

oCI,

MoF

A, A

NSA

4.1.

3. C

arry o

ut ca

pacit

y-bu

ilding

wor

ksho

ps ta

rgeti

ng p

rodu

cing

and

expo

rting

com

panie

s in

the s

ecto

r to

increa

se th

eir

know

ledge

of k

ey m

arkets

’ reg

ulati

ons o

n im

porti

ng F

FV, e

.g. E

U, th

e Rus

sian

Fede

ratio

n an

d th

e UAE

.

• Ca

pacit

y-bu

ilding

wor

ksho

ps to

focu

s on :

–EU

legi

slatio

n, w

hich

sets

gene

ral an

d sp

ecifi

c m

arketi

ng st

anda

rds f

or th

e m

inim

um q

ualit

y and

the

mini

mum

matu

-rit

y of

all

FFV.

Mar

ketin

g sta

ndard

s re

late

to q

ualit

y, gr

ading

, weig

ht a

nd s

ize, p

acka

ging

, sto

rage

and

tran

spor

t ; an

d pr

esen

tatio

n, o

rigin

and

labell

ing.

–Un

ited

Natio

ns E

cono

mic

Com

miss

ion

for E

urop

e stan

dard

s acc

epted

in li

eu o

f gen

eral

mark

eting

stan

dard

s. –

Spec

ific m

arketi

ng st

anda

rds f

or : a

pples

, pea

ches

and

necta

rines

, tab

le gr

apes

and

tom

atoes

. –

Trace

abili

ty req

uirem

ents.

–Ind

ian im

port

requir

emen

ts, e.

g. F

ood

Safet

y and

Stan

dard

s Reg

ulati

ons,

2011

, ISP

M 1

5 req

uirem

ents.

2•

Three

annu

al wo

rksho

ps

cond

ucted

to 5

0 SM

EsM

oCI,

ACCI

4.1.

4. E

nsur

e a re

gular

flow

of i

nfor

mati

on is

pro

vided

on

mark

et int

ellig

ence

.

• Th

roug

h a w

ebsit

e, ne

wslet

ter an

d tex

t mes

sagi

ng fo

r reg

istere

d us

ers (

e.g.

secto

r ass

ociat

ions

), en

sure

regul

ar an

d up

-da

ted m

arket

infor

mati

on ab

out t

he se

ctor i

s ava

ilabl

e.•

Infor

mati

on to

inclu

de : d

eman

d fo

r spe

cific

fruit

and

vege

tables

varie

ties

in ke

y m

arkets

, pric

es, s

easo

nal d

eman

d ( a

nd

prof

it m

argins

), etc

.

1•

Mark

et int

ellig

ence

di

ssem

inatio

n m

echa

nism

s in

plac

e and

ope

ratio

nal

MoC

I, M

inistr

y of

Com

mun

icatio

n an

d Inf

orm

ation

Tech

nolo

gy


75

Stra

tegi

c ob

ject

ive

4 : In

crea

se th

e se

ctor

’s c

apac

ity to

ent

er a

nd s

usta

in re

latio

nshi

ps in

dom

estic

and

inte

rnat

iona

l mar

kets

.

Oper

atio

nal o

bjec

tives

Activ

ities

Prio

rity

1=hi

gh

2=m

ed

3=lo

w

Impl

emen

tatio

n pe

riod

Targ

ets

Lead

and

sup

porti

ng

impl

emen

ters

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

4.2.

Impr

ove

links

with

ta

rget

mar

kets

.4.

2.1.

Crea

te co

mm

unica

tion

chan

nels

with

key b

uyer

s in

inter

natio

nal m

arkets

.

• Or

ganiz

e tri

ps to

key i

nter

natio

nal m

arkets

. Liai

se w

ith m

ain b

uyer

s in-

coun

try, m

aintai

n ac

tive

com

mun

icatio

n an

d op

en

dialo

gue t

o es

tablis

h ke

y tim

es o

f the

year

when

Afg

han

prod

uce i

s nee

ded.

• As

sist M

SMEs

to p

artic

ipate

in in

terna

tiona

l trad

e fair

s thr

ough

gran

t pro

gram

mes

, loa

ns, e

tc.•

Orga

nize b

usine

ss-to

-bus

iness

mee

tings

with

inter

natio

nal c

lient

s to

enco

urag

e pot

entia

l int

erna

tiona

l bus

iness

.

2•

Two

annu

al tri

ps to

int

erna

tiona

l mark

ets ( f

ive

firm

s par

ticip

ating

)•

Ten

firm

s par

ticip

ate in

trad

e fai

rs an

nuall

y•

One a

nnua

l bus

iness

-to-

busin

ess m

eetin

g

MoC

I, M

oFA

4.2.

2. Tr

ain en

terpr

ises o

n ho

w to

prep

are fo

r mark

et de

velo

pmen

t and

par

ticip

ation

in tr

ade f

airs :

• Pr

epari

ng p

rom

otio

nal m

ateria

ls in

the l

angu

age a

nd cu

lture

of th

e hos

t cou

ntry.

• Pr

esen

tatio

n an

d vis

ibili

ty ( in

cludi

ng d

igita

l mark

eting

).•

Man

aging

supp

ly an

d de

man

d.•

Ident

ifying

and

targe

ting

poten

tial b

uyer

s.

2•

At le

ast 5

0 SM

Es p

artic

ipate

in

traini

ng

MoC

I, M

oFA

4.2.

3. E

valu

ate th

e fea

sibili

ty of

estab

lishin

g wa

rehou

ses (

as p

ublic

–priv

ate se

ctor i

nves

tmen

t ) in

key m

arkets

, suc

h as

Ind

ia an

d UA

E, th

roug

h fea

sibili

ty stu

dies

. Dev

elop

a mod

el fo

r esta

blish

ing w

areho

uses

as a

PPP.

• Pil

ot a

wareh

ouse

in a

targe

t mark

et, ac

cord

ingly.

2•

Pilot

the e

stabl

ishm

ent o

f on

e ware

hous

e in

a key

targ

et m

arket

MoC

I, AC

CI

4.3.

Ena

ble

ente

ring

nich

e m

arke

ts b

y su

p-po

rting

org

anic

pro

duc-

tion

and

certi

ficat

ion.

4.3.

1. S

uppo

rt th

e dev

elopm

ent o

f org

anic

prod

ucer

s by :

• De

velo

ping

guid

eline

s for

orga

nic ag

ricul

ture

base

d on r

eleva

nt ce

rtific

ation

bodi

es in

targ

et m

arkets

( e.g

. spe

cific

EU le

g-isl

ation

to m

arket

prod

ucts

as ‘o

rgan

ic’ ).

• Of

fering

info

rmati

on o

n ho

w to

dive

rsify

their

pro

ducts

and

prov

iding

info

rmati

on ab

out v

iable

orga

nic p

rodu

ce in

dem

and

in int

erna

tiona

l mark

ets.

• As

sess

ing an

d di

ssem

inatin

g inf

orm

ation

abou

t the

mark

etabi

lity o

f org

anic

prod

ucts.

• Int

rodu

cing

mec

hanis

ms (

e.g.

radi

o sp

ots )

to d

issem

inate

relev

ant i

nfor

mati

on ab

out :

pest

cont

rol,

and

mark

et pr

ices f

or

orga

nic fr

esh

prod

uce.

2•

Afgh

an o

rgan

ic far

ming

pr

otoc

ol d

evelo

ped

• Re

port

prod

uced

on

the s

tudy

of

the m

arketa

bilit

y of a

t lea

st tw

o or

ganic

secto

r pro

ducts

int

erna

lly an

d ex

terna

lly•

Supp

ort a

t lea

st fiv

e SM

Es to

inc

rease

their

share

of o

rgan

ic pr

oduc

ts

MoC

I, AC

CI, M

AIL

4.3.

2. E

xplo

re pa

rtner

ship

s with

inter

natio

nal c

ertif

icatio

n bo

dies

for o

rgan

ic pr

oduc

tion.

2•

At le

ast t

wo m

emor

andu

ms

of u

nder

stand

ing si

gned

with

int

erna

tiona

l cer

tifica

tion

bodi

es

MoC

I

4.3.

3. D

evelo

p a s

chem

e for

org

anic

certi

ficati

on, p

riorit

izing

spec

ific f

ruit

and

vege

table

prod

ucts

( e.g

. pom

egran

ates,

mus

hroo

ms,

grap

es ).

2•

Sche

me d

evelo

ped

and

in pl

ace,

prio

ritizi

ng tw

o sp

ecifi

c fru

its an

d ve

getab

les

Da A

fgha

nist

an B

ank,

MoF

, MAI

L, M

oCI

4.4.

Enh

ance

the

vis-

ibili

ty o

f Afg

han

FFV

in re

gion

al a

nd g

loba

l m

arke

ts.

4.4.

1. R

eview

/ up

date

exist

ing F

FV ca

talog

ue ( o

nline

/ pr

inted

) to

be d

issem

inated

amon

g po

tentia

l buy

ers.

• Ca

talog

ue to

inclu

de :

–Le

ading

Afg

han

FFV

prod

ucts

–Re

gion

s of p

rodu

ction

–Av

ailab

ility

char

t by v

ariety

–Ce

rtific

ation

s ava

ilabl

e –

Afgh

an ex

porte

rs’ d

irecto

ry.•

Publ

ish ca

talog

ue an

d bo

oklet

s for

FFV

varie

ties i

n Af

ghan

istan

.•

Deve

lop

com

mun

icatio

n an

d m

arketi

ng m

ateria

ls to

pro

mot

e en

dem

ic va

rietie

s ( p

rope

rties

, attr

ibut

ions

) in

key

mark

ets,

base

d on

mark

et de

man

d as

sess

men

ts.

2•

Catal

ogue

revis

ed an

d di

ssem

inated

in ke

y mark

ets

thro

ugh

com

merc

ial at

taché

s an

d pu

blic

/ priv

ate se

ctor

webs

ites

MoC

I, AN

SA, M

oFA

76


Stra

tegi

c ob

ject

ive

4 : In

crea

se th

e se

ctor

’s c

apac

ity to

ent

er a

nd s

usta

in re

latio

nshi

ps in

dom

estic

and

inte

rnat

iona

l mar

kets

.

Oper

atio

nal o

bjec

tives

Activ

ities

Prio

rity

1=hi

gh

2=m

ed

3=lo

w

Impl

emen

tatio

n pe

riod

Targ

ets

Lead

and

sup

porti

ng

impl

emen

ters

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

4.4.

Enh

ance

the

vis-

ibili

ty o

f Afg

han

FFV

in re

gion

al a

nd g

loba

l m

arke

ts.

4.4.

2. E

xplo

re th

e dev

elopm

ent o

f geo

grap

hical

indica

tions

for s

pecif

ic fru

it an

d ve

getab

le cr

ops s

uch

as re

d Ka

ndah

ari

pom

egran

ates.

• Pil

ot th

is ini

tiativ

e by

con

ducti

ng a

cost-

bene

fit st

udy o

n th

e de

velo

pmen

t of a

geo

grap

hical

indica

tion

for r

ed K

anda

hari

pom

egran

ates.

Stud

y to

cons

ider

:•

Prod

uct c

harac

terist

ics an

d po

tentia

l in

dom

estic

and

forei

gn m

arkets

.•

Capa

city t

o stre

ngthe

n the

cohe

sion o

f pro

duce

r gro

ups a

nd ot

her o

perat

ors w

ho w

ill be

pilla

rs of

the ge

ograp

hical

indica

tion.

• Re

view

/ set

up st

anda

rds (

i.e. c

ode o

f prac

tice )

circ

umsc

ribing

a pr

oduc

t’s g

eogr

aphic

al reg

ion

of p

rodu

ction

.•

Desig

n of a

mec

hanis

m to

effec

tively

attri

bute

the ri

ght u

se of

the g

eogr

aphic

al ind

icatio

n with

in the

estab

lishe

d bou

ndari

es.

• Po

tentia

l to

estab

lish

a trac

eabi

lity s

ystem

, am

ong

othe

rs inc

ludi

ng p

oten

tial m

arketi

ng st

rateg

ies.

3•

Cost-

bene

fit st

udy c

ondu

cted

and

diss

emina

tedM

oCI

4.5.

Enc

oura

ge lo

cal

cons

umpt

ion

of s

ecto

r pr

oduc

ts.

4.5.

1. A

sses

s mark

et dy

nam

ics fo

r loc

al co

nsum

ptio

n of

FFV

and

diss

emina

te inf

orm

ation

to re

levan

t priv

ate se

ctor

stake

hold

ers.

• As

sess

, thr

ough

a tar

geted

bas

eline

stud

y, de

man

d an

d su

pply

of lo

cal s

uper

mark

ets an

d co

nsum

ers.

Ident

ify co

nsum

ers’

attitu

des t

oward

s buy

ing lo

cally

pro

duce

d FF

V.•

Com

mun

icate

base

line s

tudy

find

ings t

o se

ctor a

ssoc

iatio

ns, c

oope

rative

s and

unio

ns th

roug

h wo

rksho

ps.

2•

Targ

eted

base

line s

tudy

de

velo

ped

• W

orks

hops

cond

ucted

to 1

00

mem

bers

MoC

I, AC

CI

4.5.

2. D

evelo

p a n

ation

al ca

mpa

ign

( It’s

Grea

t, It’

s Afg

han

Mad

e ) p

rom

oting

the l

ocal

cons

umpt

ion

of d

omes

ticall

y pro

-du

ced

FFV,

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