Afghan Women Empowerment through Marketing

[ WOMEN IN AFGHANISTAN AND MARKETING]
Marketing
UNIVERSITY OF MUMBAI
PROJECT ON
WOMEN IN AFGHANISTAN AND MARKETING
SUBMITTED BY
SHAIKH FIRDAUS MOHD S.
ROLL NO. 43
PROJECT GUIDE
MRS. MAHALAKSHMI SANKAR
BACHELOR OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES

SEMESTER VI
(2012-13)
V.E.S. COLLEGE OF ARTS, SCIENCE & COMMERCE,

SINDHI COLONY, CHEMBUR 400071
Shaikh Fidaus Mohd S. Roll No. 43
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PROJECT ON
WOMEN IN AFGHANISTAN AND MARKETING
Submitted
In Partial Fulfillment of the requirements
For the Award of the Degree of
Bachelor of Management Studies
By
SHAIKH FIRDAUS MOHD S. - 43
PROJECT GUIDE
MRS. MAHALAKSHMI SANKAR
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DECLARATION
I SHAIKH FIRDAUS MOHD S. student of BMS Semester
VI (2012-13) hereby declare that I have completed this
project on WOMEN IN AFGHANISTAN AND
MARKETING
The information submitted is true & original to the

best of my knowledge.
nts
ture
Stude
Signa
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Name of Student
(SHAIKH FIRDAUS MOHD S.)
CERTIFICATE
I, MRS. MAHALAKSHMI SANKAR, hereby certify that

Ms. SHAIKH FIRDAUS MOHD S. of V.E.S. College of
TYBMS [Semester VI] has completed his project, titled
WOMEN IN AFGHANISTAN AND MARKETING in the
academic year 2012-2013. The information submitted herein is true
and original to the best of my knowledge.
Project Guide
Prof. MAHALAKSHMI SANKAR
Principal
Dr. (Mrs) J. K.
PHADNIS
Course Coordinator
Prof. MAHALAKSHMI SANKAR
External Examiner
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
First of all I would like to take this opportunity to thank
the Mumbai University for having projects as a part of the B.M.S
curriculum.
I wish to express my heartfelt gratitude to the following
individuals who have played a crucial role in the research for this
project. Without their active cooperation the preparation of this
project could not have been completed within the specified time
limit.
The first person I would like to acknowledge is my guide
Mrs. MAHALAKSHMI SANKAR who supported me
throughout this project with utmost cooperation and patience. I am
very much thankful to them for sparing their precious time for me
and for helping me in doing this project.
Next I would like to thank my parents Mr. MOHD SHARIF
their strong support and cooperation.
Finally I would like to thank all my friends who have helped
in all possible ways in making this project presentable.
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Last but not the least I would like to thank The Almighty for
always helping me.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
We all are living in the 21st Century where things had changed
drastically throughout the years. Revolution has taken place and
everything is improving very fast. If talking about womens all
around the world their situation, personalities and their way of
living has changed and improved.
Women today is enjoying freedom, health, education etc. but still
there are many countries where womens are dominated specially
in Afghanistan. Afghanistan is among those countries where
womens had been earlier dominated by Talibans. There has been
centuries where womens were and are treated like animals even in
more recent times that is during the Mujahideen (1992-1996)
period. During this period the record is worse than the Talibans
and this continued further.
Many womens in Afghanistan had fought for their rights and had
succeeded but many of them are still fighting. This project Women
In Afghanistan And Marketing focuses on how womens are
moving forward building their small entrepreneurship, learning
how to do business and how to market their product with new
ideas, innovation etc. in order to survive. These womens are most
probably belongs to poor families, widows who struggles for her
family and also those womens who wants to fulfill their dreams
and to be an inspiring character for other women. This project also
talks about different Government organization who helps these
womens to come forward and build their countries economy.
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Many companies like cosmetics, mobile operators are also

struggling hard in order to market and sell their products to these
womens in order to gain large market share and large profits is
also included in this project.
Sr. No.
1
TOPIC
Women in Afghanistan:
History
Things banned on women in Afghanistan
Afghan women-Today
Afghanistans Women and Empowerment:

Culture Remains a Hurdle between Afghanistans Women and
Empowerment
Market Development Efforts
Marketing of products by Afghanistan women:

Marketing of Agricultural product and RAMP
Marketing Poultry products
Marketing of Handicraft made by themselves and ILO
Grants
First Womens Market Opens in Mazar-e-Sharif
Companies marketing their product to Afghan women:

Roshan Telecom
Roz Magazines
China Threatens Afghanistan's Burqa Market
Hurdles for Companies to sell and market their products
Pg. No.
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6
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Inspiring stories of Afghan women

Case Studies
Conclusion
Bibliography
INDEX
1.Women in Afghanistan
History
Afghanistan may be the only country in the world where during the last century kings and
politicians have been made and undone by struggles relating to womens status. The
situation of women under the Taliban rule has been center stage.
The situation of women came to symbolize to Western military powers a justification of
war in the name of freedom of women. But the situation of women in Afghanistan today
is not only the result of the Talibans policies. There is a history over the centuries of
womens subjugation. Even in more recent times the Mujahideen (1992-1996) record is
worse than the Talibans and this continued further.
Taliban declared that women were forbidden to go to work and they were not to leave
their homes unless accompanied by a male family member. When they did go out it was
required that they had to wear an all-covering burqa. Under these restrictions, women
were denied an education and were refused health care. Many women were unable to
leave their households at all because they could not afford a burqa or they no longer had
any male relatives.
These women were forced to stay at home and paint their windows so that no one could
see in or out. During the Taliban's five-year rule, women in Afghanistan were essentially
put under house arrest. Some women who once held respectable positions were forced to
wander the streets in their burqas selling everything they owned or begging in order to
survive.
Taliban treatment of women
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Taliban religious police beating a woman in Kabul filmed by RAWA on August 26, 2001
Several Taliban and Al-Qaeda commanders ran a network of human trafficking,
abducting women and selling them into forced prostitution and slavery in Afghanistan
and Pakistan. Time Magazine writes: "The Taliban often argued that the brutal restrictions
they placed on women were actually a way of revering and protecting the opposite sex.
The behavior of the Taliban during the six years they expanded their rule in Afghanistan
made a mockery of that claim.
Things banned on women in Afghanistan

Women in Afghanistan are banned to several things:
Cosmetics and Beauty:
All makeup is banned from the country, as well as nail polish. Some women have had
fingers cut off for wearing nail polish, according to World Prout Assembly. Jewelry is
also banned in Afghanistan. Women cannot pluck their eyebrows, or cut their hair short.
They cannot wear perfume.
Clothes:
All colorful clothes are banned in Afghanistan, as well as any clothing item that is
considered stylish. According to the Taliban, such clothes are considered sexually
attracting colors. Wide leg, or flared, pants are banned, even under burqas. Tight
pants are prohibited, also under burqas, and women must be clothed to their ankles
and be veiled at all times in public.
Shoes:
White socks and shoes are banned, since the Afghan flag contains white, and wearing
white shoes would signify walking on top of it. Also, women cannot wear sheer
stockings or high heels in Afghanistan, since it is against the law for a man to hear a
woman walking.
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Not allowed to talk to other man except their father, brother etc.
They are not allowed to speak loudly so that no other man can hear their voice.
They are not allowed to watch Television etc.
Consequences:
Women can legally be whipped, beaten, or verbally abused in public for not complying
with dress codes. They have been whipped in public for not covering their ankles.
Even today, violence against women in Afghanistan is high although the situation is improving
slowly as the country progresses with the help of the international community.
Throughout the nineteenth century, Afghanistan continued to be a country dominated by tribes and
men continued to have ultimate control over women. Thus, one must approach the analysis of
womens situation in Afghanistan, not through the ideological formulation of before and after the
Taliban, but within the larger historical context of Afghanistan. Only such a perspective can ensure
that women will be seen as integral to the rebuilding of the Afghan nation.
Afghan women-Today
After nearly ten years of foreign military intervention, it has been proved irrefutably that
war is not a solution for the conflicts that continue to roil Afghanistan. Despite some
specific guarantees won for women in the countrys constitution, womens struggle for
their rights is a continuing challenge and not an easy task.
Parallel to the deterioration of security in many areas since 2006, a recurrence of old
challenges has started to emerge, with a drop in enrollment of girls in schools, especially
high schools. The number of female civil servants decreased 9.2 percent in the course of
three years, between 2004 and 2007.25 Women working in the aid agencies have felt
increasingly insecure about reaching out to remote areas in the provinces. Still, despite
huge risk, often they continue to work but the growing fear takes its toll.
Despite having 27 percent of the parliamentary seats filled by women, the parliament has
approved a controversial amnesty law, calling for immunity for all those involved in wartime violations of human rights and womens rights.
Above all, Afghanistan at the moment suffers hugely from the absence of an honest,
dedicated political movement that can open a constructive dialogue on a sustainable setup
for long-term peace. Such a movement can be built only if the unjust power and
legitimacy given to corrupt and notorious figures in Afghanistan are countered by
insistence on the culture of pluralism and by opening more space to individuals and
groups who have been kept in margins of the system.
One example of such progress could be the opening of space for political parties to be
active. Under current circumstances, women activists and leaders have entered a phase of
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their struggle where their national or internal solidarity must become highly important,
even if such an option has seemed an unachievable goal, given the fact that, despite all
their commitment and strengths, women are not yet able to compete with the rest of the
power-holders in the country. In this situation, the urgent need for having at least a strong
platform for carrying out advocacy campaigns, which are led by Afghan women
themselves, was filled by the Afghan Womens Network (AWN).
The strength of a structure such as the AWN mainly emanates from its active NGO
members (who are working in different parts of the country with their social service
deliveries) and its executive board members, who all are strong advocates for womens
rights. The NGO members of AWN are organizations led by women that are carrying out
small-scale development assistance projects in various parts of Afghanistan, from
Badakshan and Nangarhar to Herat and Kandahar.
These womens organizations are active in the social field, where carrying out advocacy
messages by Orzala Ashraf Nemat 27 their organizations in which they would criticize
certain actions of the government, could be seen as a potential threat to their service
delivery work.
Hence, they all come together at AWN in a joint platform to manage their advocacy
campaigns. Despite significant challenges that emerge in the micro-management level,
the AWN has become a platform where most of Afghan women leaders and activists
came together and strategize their position on certain critical issues.
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The power struggle among various groups to use AWN for their political or perhaps other
purposes is intense, but to a large extent, the network has succeeded at least in filling the
immediate gap for such a platform, ensuring that in all ongoing and short-noticed
meetings where important decisions were about to be made, women at least manage to
make their voices heard. For instance, at the London Conference in early 2010, it was on
no ones agenda to speak about Afghan women, and the conference seemed scripted to
gain the assent of the international community for allowing the return of Taliban.
Nonetheless, Afghan women activists succeeded in a strong media campaign that at least
resulted in the acknowledgement of womens rights and respect for the constitution of
Afghanistan. Also, it was the Afghan women who strongly raised their voices to affirm
the importance of justice as well as the strengthening of the formal justice systems in the
country.
2.Afghanistans Women and Empowerment

Culture Remains a Hurdle between Afghanistans Women and Empowerment
Afghanistans empowerment of women is at the lowest levels of anywhere in the world.
During the Talibans reign, women rarely were allowed to leave their homes and were
banned from taking part in formal work or education. Today, Afghani women are the
poorest and most deprived group in the country.
Traditional roles for Afghanistans women continue to constrain their participation in
social, economic and political activities. In particular, female wage labor is still viewed as
a solution of last resort even for households in desperate straits and when women do
venture into the workforce, they only receive half of a mans typical wage. On a whole,
Afghani women also have fewer marketable skills and a poor education female literacy
rates hover around 21 percent.
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Afghani women face a steep climb in order to gain equal footing with their male
counterparts, in part because women often lack ownership, control and access to
productive assets such as land, equipment and materials, and their legal right to
inheritance is usually bypassed.
The lack of working capital and absence of credit reduces womens opportunities to start
activities that require an initial investment. These constraints are more acute for femaleheaded households. Per capita expenditures for female-headed households tend to be 14
percent lower than households headed by a male.
E.g.: ActionAid:
Despite the enormous hurdles standing in womens way, ActionAid is working
throughout Afghanistan to empower women through education, the provision of basic
rights, and by increasing their access to information by encouraging greater levels of
interaction by women at the community, district, provincial and national levels.
To engage the women, ActionAid helped form 70 REFLECT circles a tool that links
adult learning to empowerment -- and in 2008, helped 1550 women learn to read and
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write, along with basic math skills. The women also received training in health and
hygiene issues, disease prevention, womens rights, childrens rights, voting rights and
more.
Dozens of these womens groups have also received capacity-building training that
encompasses skills such as cloth making, embroidery, weaving, handicrafts and
marketing. Their products have been sold in multiple exhibitions and the income is
transferred to the groups members.
ActionAid is also helping to educate Afghanistan women about their legal rights.
Last year, ActionAid trained and established a paralegal network of 30 women to work on
issues dealing with violence against women. With the training in hand, the women
provide consultation to survivors of violence.
Moving forward, ActionAid recognizes the need to collaborate with the Human Rights
Department and establish centers to protect women and those who are destitute.
Market Development Problems, Recommendations, Progress and Efforts

taken
Difficulties in Marketing and Selling
Lack of market information and access to market:
Most participants complained of their lack of access to domestic market and international
markets. Aside from this, they do not know what product is in demand in the market,
especially in the international market. They continue to produce blindly without the
guidance of sufficient and reliable market information, and then bemoan that they are not
able to fetch buyers.
This is connected with the above issue on the need for new design ideas. In one of the
trade exhibitions organized by the Afghanistan Investment Support Agency (AISA), it
was noted that womens products, particularly garments do not sell because they are
heavily embroidered and could be used only in special occasions in Afghanistan. The
producers lack the skill for utilizing Afghan designs/ embroidery on garments that are
used frequently used such as office clothes, evening dresses, curtains, bed sheets, bed
covers, pillows, table runners, wall decors, etc.
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They also lament about not having guaranteed buyers. Consequently, business is slow and
seems to have no opportunity to flourish. Meanwhile, if they are able to get contracts
from buyers, these are subcontracts which reduce their income/profit. They have
difficulty in getting first-hand contract because they have limited access to institutional
buyers, information on where to find them and networks to facilitate linkage.
E.g.: Participants in Nangarhar involved in handicrafts presented their difficulty in selling
their products. They are capable of making good quality handmade needlecrafts which
take around one month to finish. The great amount of time they dedicate to working on
each item naturally makes it expensive. Consequently, their products cannot be easily
sold, especially since they are selling in village markets. At the same time they currently
need money to support their families. As a result, they would rather use embroidery
machines to produce more items which are priced at much lower prices than handmade
goods.
High cost of transporting the goods:

Individual producers who live in remote areas express their hopelessness in realizing any
income from selling their products. While they have to contend with the high cost of
transporting their goods, they are not producing enough volume that will cover the high
overhead expense for transportation or fuel. The high cost of transporting goods eats up
almost all of their sales.
Non-competitive price:
Participants from Kabul registered their concern about the growing difficulty in
competing with cheaper food products such as spices, pickles, jam, and tomato paste
imported from Pakistan. They pointed out that their products are more expensive because
they do not use chemical and preservatives to prolong life shelf life.
They identified the lack of appropriate technology to process their products, the lack of
facilities, including cold storage for long-term storage, and the high cost of transporting
goods as the main factors why they cannot afford to be competitive in terms of price.
Unattractive packaging:
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Participants from Balkh narrated that the tomato paste they produce are packed only in
plastic. They sell these in the local market where there are imported brands that are better
packed. Women are seeking assistance on how the right packaging is done to make their
products more attractive in the eyes of buyers.
Inability to join local and international exhibits:

The women are aware that joining in local and international exhibitions boosts their sales.
However, they are faced with a host of obstacles to be able to do so. At the top of the list
is the high cost of participating. Every expense item is prohibitive plane fare, hotel
accommodation and exhibition space rental.
Another is the difficulty of getting visas. Afghans generally have hard time in getting
visa. There is a general sentiment about perceived lack of support from government in
this regard.
E.g.: A Kabul participant shared that to join an exhibit in Germany an exhibitor would
spend US$3,000 for travel expenses and US$800 per day for exhibition space rental. The
total amount to be incurred was extremely unaffordable, especially for an average Afghan
woman exhibitor whose initial investment was only US$5,000.
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Recommendations
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Increase access to domestic and international markets

The lack of information on and access to markets limits womens ability to gain a decent
profit to keep their business alive. Improving their access to markets consequently
increase their sales, thereby reducing or eliminating financial difficulties.
Access to market information:
Women producers/ exporters should have information on what is in demand in the
market. Product matching activities could be initiated by the Ministry of Commerce and
Industry, through the Export Promotion Agency of Afghanistan (EPAA). It could collect
information on market demands, be a conduit that informs local manufacturers about
what products are needed by local and international institutional buyers. This will
guarantee sales and address women producers predicament that their products stay long
on the shelves and do not fetch buyers.
On the other hand, women involved in food processing complain that they cannot
compete in the local market because the price of their products, which do not use
preservatives or chemicals, is higher than those which do. These producers could be
linked to then international market where the demand for organic product is significantly
increasing. This could be done through trade missions that will search for potential
buyers. India could be a priority target for trade missions to maximize the benefits of
SAFTA.
Local and International trade exhibits:
One recommendation mentioned above is providing women with a place where they
could sell their products, such as in the Bagh-e-Zanana. Another is to organize provincial,
regional or national womens trade fairs, which will feature womens products, attract
local markets and generate sales. Womens participation in international trade fair should
also be given express support.
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Trade attachs could pro-actively search in their respective areas of responsibility for
international exhibits where women could join, especially those that would provide
subsidies on the participation costs. Assistance in processing travel documents,
particularly in obtaining visas, should be guaranteed. Women do not have to go as
individual exhibitors. They could go as a group of exhibitors and share the expenses.
Government could sponsor or subsidize groups of exhibitors composed of representative
producers of the different products with which Afghanistan takes pride. Businesses could
take turns in participating.
ICT Tools:
The web is presently the best tool for finding opportunity and for reaching distant
markets without necessarily leaving ones physical location. Women business owners
could be introduced to tools that will link them to the market such as e-commerce, which
will enable women producers to sell in higher value markets or purchase critical inputs.
They could prepare their business profiles and post them on the web or to be linked to
highly popular or commonly viewed websites.
A database of women in local and international trade with information on their products
could be developed and maintained. These could be made available to importers around
the world, especially to those which consider womens economic empowerment a part of
their corporate social responsibility. Government could put up a website that will promote
womens products.
It could feature products from each province or womens business federations and could
serve as a portal where potential buyers could go to learn more about Afghan women
made products, find contacts or place orders. Training sessions could be conducted to
teach women in business how to use information technology to access information on
markets and policies that govern local and international trade and to expand their reach
by posting business profiles.
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Strengthen womens linkages/ networks for trade

There is a need to create strong linkages and cooperation among womens businesses,
especially to meet their production requirements. The volume requirements of exporting
have become the waterloo of small businesses that attempt to break into the international
market. One the other hand, womens voices need to be heard in policy decision-making
processes and their concerns at least considered and at best addressed in new policies
being adopted.
Functional/ local womens business organizations:
Women business owners should be encouraged, through media and information
campaign, to join organizations that have strong programmes addressing their needs.
Membership in organizations is usually the requirement for accessing loans and for
joining international trade exhibits. Likewise, different kinds of associations or
cooperatives could be formed depending on the needs of the would-be members. Existing
ones could be strengthened. A credit cooperative could be put up to address the
requirements of those who lack financial capital. Most microfinance institutions lend to
groups that are lend to their members.
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A producers association could be organized to access of government or international

donor programs that provide common service facilities such as business centers,
production areas, equipment and transport, cooperative stores and trading centers.
It could also be a mechanism for bulk buying of quality raw materials at reasonable
prices or for pooling production outputs to meet volume demands and to get first hand
contracts.
A general purpose organization that caters to the needs of a cluster of women traders
could serve all the needs of its members. The organization could be the conduit of buyers
to its member producers. It could receive bulk orders covered by purchase orders from
buyers and distribute them to members to be produced. This approach guarantees that the
products will actually be sold immediately.
Moreover, the organization could also negotiate for raw materials to already be provided
by the buyers to free producers from the worries of not having enough capital to buy
quality raw materials.
Instead of advocating a fast lane in Customs dedicated for women, the organization could
Also assign a representative or liaison officer who would be responsible for its members
custom transaction. The liaison officer will be oriented on the one-stop shop in order to
be familiar with process and maximize womens benefits of government reforms that
facilitate trade transactions.
Umbrella organization for women in trade:
The Afghan Womens Business Federation (AWBF) is one of the primary umbrella
organizations for women in business and trade in the country. It provides just the right
services that women entrepreneurs need.
However, it cannot respond to all requests, especially for access to loans or grants and
international markets. Their organizational capability could be further enhanced to
proactively search for and keep a database of loan/ grant-giving facilities. Their
communications facilities and staff should also have improved capacity to network with
international exhibit organizers and international buyers to increase its members access
to international markets.
Networks with international womens businesses or organizations that support womens
businesses should be established. A big-sister, small-sister program could be started such
that bigger international women-owned or women-run companies would help Afghan
womens businesses, especially in identifying markets and market demands.
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The Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industries (ACCI) is a non- profitorganization that advocates policies to support the business community. It provides
business facilitation to its more than 37,000 members around the country and serves as
the primary source of business, market, investment and trade information.
More women business should be urged to join ACCI to avail of its member services
which includes business skill training, business development and networking
opportunities. ACCIs provincial board have at least one women board member. ACCI
member could be encouraged to vote for more women on the board, their concerns will
have a better chance of being discussed during regular meetings with the president,
cabinet and international trade officials, thus addressing the issue that women are not
being consulted in trade policy discussions and negotiations.
Ensure womens participation in trade policy consultations and negotiations:
Women entrepreneurs and womens business groups have to be invited to trade policy
consultations, dialogues and conferences. The WTO negotiating team should have at least
one woman member. With the extent of AWBFs reach in terms of membership and its
rich insights as an organization from the experience of assisting struggling women
entrepreneurs, the Federation could be an authoritative resource during national or
international trade discussions/ consultations. AWBF could participate as an institutional
member in trade negotiating panels.
Trade related government offices should also ensure that women are hired among their
technical and decision making staff, such as in the Trade Policy Unit of the MoCi and in
the working group that will lead efforts to improve Afghanistans indicators in the Doing
Business Survey.
The Export Promotion Agency for Afghanistan (EPAA) is a government agency
established to facilitate private and public sector coordination, to assist in increasing
markets for Afghan products and to simplify export procedures by removing trade
barriers. EPAA supports the export coordination mechanism composed of various
government agencies and trade-related international projects.
It has three working groups - cargo facilitation, cold chain and capability building.
Women businesses should be represented in this coordination mechanism, including in
EPAAs trade missions, to ensure that they are able to equally benefit from EPAAs
services to increase their participation in trade. A dialogue that will discuss womens
trade-related concerns and advocate reforms and programs to address these could be
initiated.
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Progress
Trading for Progress: Changes in Womens Lives
Womens involvement in trade and business has brought about impressive changes both
in themselves, in their families and in their communities.
Increased self-confidence:
It takes a lot of courage to go against the will of the family and against the dictates of
tradition. Women who ventured into trade and business must have drawn from a well of
courage when they were about to take their first step. All of the participants proudly
shared that the most notable change they have experienced is improved self-confidence.
After all the opposition they had to face among family members, all the whispered
ridicule from members of their communities, and all the challenges and obstacles that
they had to overcome to start the business and make it take off, they are certain that they
have what it takes to be self-reliant and to be the best they could be. Women are now able
to speak up for themselves and defend their rights.
As the number of businesswomen in the country multiplies, there will be more women
who are able to take charge of their own lives and eventually substantially contribute to
the development of society and the country as a whole.
Greater mobility:
The participants shared that they had limited freedom to move before they ventured into
business. They were not allowed by family to travel on their own. Women were likewise
not allowed to stay out late. Sometimes, the reason is a conservative culture and tradition.
The community looks down on women and their families if they travel alone or arrive
home late. Sometimes, the restriction is brought about by genuine concern. The family
worries that the woman might not be able to go back home safe.
However, being involved in the economic domain - manufacturing, managing and trading
demands that women spend a lot of time out of house. To be able to find raw materials or
to sell their products, it is sometimes necessary for women to travel outside their districts
or provinces. If they decide to tap the international market, they are required to travel
outside their country.
E.g.: Mahram usually escort women on the worst time that they travel. However,
this practice is not in the long run as it doubles the cost.
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Efforts taken
E.g.1: Georgia ADT Wraps Up Food Security and Marketing Projects
In late 2011, the Georgia ADT wrapped
up work on two important agricultural
initiatives that seek to improve food
security and to increase agricultural
markets for Afghan farm families.
The inability to store and preserve food
has been a challenge for Afghan farm
families both in maintaining food
security, especially during the cold winter
months, and for in increasing market
access for the families agricultural
produce. Two initiatives supported by the
Georgia ADT sought to address this challenge.
The first is the Wardak Women's Food Preservation Training program. Through this
program, nearly 500 women in Wardak Province were provided with training and
equipment to help them preserve food so that nutritional food would be available to their
families all year long.
The Wardak Women's Food Preservation project spanned all nine districts of the Wardak
Province including some of the most kinetic areas in the Georgia ADT's area of
operations. The project began in September 2011 with the training of the Director of
Women's Affairs and her staff on food safety and preservation using the pressurized
jarring technique commonly used in America. Afterward, two representatives from each
of the nine districts were trained at the provincial center in Maydan Shar. In the following
weeks, these eighteen women conducted training at the village level for fifty women per
district.
The hope is that this project will substantially and immediately improve food security for
families throughout Wardak Province. Fruits and vegetables such as tomatoes, beans,
squash, apricots, apples, and pears are essential crops in the province, both for nutritional
sustainment and family income. Unfortunately, with a lack of power and refrigeration in
the country, many Afghan agricultural producers struggle to store food products through
the winter and early spring months. Food that is properly jarred using the pressurized
jarring technique taught to these women can be safely stored from six months up to three
years of time.
The second important initiative completed by Georgia ADT in late 2011 involved
agricultural market training in Logar Province. Fifteen Logar DAIL extension staff
members and ten cooperative leaders from throughout the province came together for five
days of Phase II agricultural marketing training. The goal of the event was to provide the
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training and market research necessary to build the training capacity, leadership
capability, and service potential of the DAILs in Logar and Wardak provinces.
Agriculture is the leading industry in Logar and Wardak provinces. But unfortunately,
many local agricultural producers don't receive the maximum potential income from their
harvests due to inadequate storage capabilities, lack of grading and sorting skills,
transportation obstacles, poor understanding of market demand, and limited connection to
domestic and international markets outside of their districts. Specifically, this Phase II
training focused on food processing techniques that add value to raw goods and/or
preserve the products for transport and storage. Techniques discussed included: solar food
drying, sulfur drying, milk and yogurt processing, jamming and jarring. The training
concluded with a trip to Kabul to visit a successful wheat storage facility and a milk
processing plant.
E.g.2: Vulnerable Afghan Women Gain New Textile, Marketing Skills
100 Afghan widows, refugees, IDPs and poor women learn new wool-spinning
methods
Investing in women improves the economic fabric of entire communities. Toward that
end, ACDI/VOCA recently launched an initiative with an Afghan women-owned
handicraft company* to train 100 widows, refugees, internally displaced people (IDPs)
and poor women in northern Afghanistan on new yarn-spinning methods and marketing
skills. By giving the women skills, resources and connections to local markets, the project
aims for these women to become more self-dependent in a way that benefits them and
their communities for years to come.
New Business Skills for Women Means Better Incomes for Afghan Families
On my first day, I thought it will be difficult to use these spinning wheels; I was having
hard time practicing it, says Hamida, who had been producing yarn using the traditional,
labor-intensive method. But today, I feel really comfortable operating it and producing
yarn.Hamida says the new method is easy and efficient and will yield income to
supplement the wages of her husband, who is a day laborer. I am hoping to continue to
produce yarn and sell it on the market, she says.
Women Linked to Resources, Markets
Zohra who is a trainer for the project says from her experience, she expects the women to
learn how to use the spinning wheel and produce good-quality yarn in three to four
months. The women also will be trained in marketing skills. At the conclusion of the sixmonth project, each woman who graduates will receive for free one spinning wheel, a
chair, 20 kg of wool and a comb. With these start-up resources, the women will be able to
sell the yarn in local markets or to the handicraft company, which needs quality yarn to
produce carpets for export.
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3.Marketing of products by Afghanistan women

Agriculture
In Afghanistan, womens role in agricultural production is shaped by the life cycle of the
household, the physical site of fields, and other tasks that women perform during the
agricultural year. The supply of adequate labor within the household sometimes means
that women do not have to work in cultivation outside the family compound; however,
vulnerable women (widows, women with disabled husbands, etc.) often do have to assist
with the production of labor intensive crops.
At the same time, it is critical to recognize that mens agricultural activities such as land
preparation, planting/sowing, and fertilizer application are usually completed within a
specific time frame, while womens agricultural activities such as weeding are recurrent,
daily activities that last from the time the seed is planted to harvest time. Even though
women may spend the same amount of time on agricultural activities, womens work
tends to be less visible, non-monetized, and much less rewarded than mens work. RAMP
seeks to address this imbalance by including women in the full value chain of agricultural
production and marketing.
Afghanistan is traditionally an agricultural society. Agricultural production is largely a

household activity, with women and children undertaking important roles alongside men
in crop production, horticulture and the rearing of livestock. Women live within family
compounds, often for most of their lives. Within the compound walls women manage
livestock (chickens, dairy cows), small orchards (nuts, fruits), bee hives and gardens.
Women translate agricultural and livestock output into enterprise opportunities weaving
wool from sheep into carpets; making jams, drying fruit, tending bees and selling the
honey. Men often market the womens produce and tend the field crops and livestock
outside the compound.
Targeting income generation activities for women should begin with an assessment of
those economic opportunities that have multiplier effects on the welfare of their
immediate and extended families. Women in poor households, or households with a low
worker/dependent ratio, tend to participate in more agricultural tasks outside the home.
Most rural households keep livestock, mainly for domestic consumption of meat, milk,
wool, eggs, etc. and occasionally for sale.
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Women and children are the main tenders of animals. Boys are usually in charge of taking
the animals for grazing while women and girls collect fodder. While women have a
significant responsibility for animals, their livestock management in most areas is
centered in the home, taking care of newborn and sick animals, milking, collecting fodder
and stable feeding.
Gender roles in crop related activities:
In Afghanistan, females are largely responsible for weeding, harvesting and threshing.
Men undertake seed preparation, fertilization, spraying, threshing, hauling, cleaning,
marketing, buying seeds, fertilizers and chemicals, selling products and by products.
Males are also involved in hired cropping activities such as seed and land preparation,
ploughing, transplanting, broadcasting, weeding, fertilization, spraying, hauling,
cleaning, harvesting, and marketing. Females involvement as hired is limited and when
this happens they are hired for activities such as broadcasting, fertilization, threshing,
hauling, cleaning and sometimes marketing.
Gender roles in livestock related activities:
In Afghanistan, men are responsible for herding, preparing/purchasing feeds, and making
up shelter for livestock. Males are also hired for making up shelter for the animals. On
top of other home activities, women are responsible for tethering, milking, processing
milk, cleaning barn, preparing dung cakes, and disposal of animal wastes.
Cleaning/washing, feeding, watering, collecting forages, marketing animals and their
products are done both by men and women. In general, women's work varies from place
to place in Afghanistan. Among most settled rural families, women participate in
agricultural work only during light harvesting periods, and are responsible for the
production of milk products. Some women specialize in handicrafts such as carpet and
felt making. Nomadic women care for young lambs and kids and make a wide variety of
dairy products, for sale as well as family use. They spin the wool sheered by men and
weave the fabric from which their tents are made. Felt-making for yurt coverings and
household rugs is also a female activity.
Gender Dimensions in the Agricultural Sector
Despite many interventions to address gender inequality, Afghanistan remains among the
lowest-ranking nations in the UN Human Development Index and the Gender
Development Index.
Afghan womens roles in agriculture are critical to their well-being, given the lack of
other income-generating opportunities that are geographically suitable (that is, within or
near the village). Rural women have few or no incentives to increase their productivity
within agriculture, however, because
(a) Their agricultural labor is typically unremunerated; and
(b) Household responsibilities affect their time management.
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Moreover, socio-cultural norms prohibit women from

(i) Interactions with persons outside the family;
(ii) Work outside the home without a permission from a male family member (i.e., father,
brother, or husband); and
(iii) Travel outside the village. Although there are regional variations depending on the
degree of traditionalism in the communities, these norms have substantial impacts on
womens land ownership, mobility and rural access, and access to services.
In particular, they can severely limit womens access to inputs, extension services, and
markets, as those who are service providers in these areas tend to be male.
Land Ownership:
The vast majority of Afghan women do not own land. Societal factors dictate that women
should not own property, especially land, although they can inherit land as widows and as
children of landowners. Despite national land inheritance laws giving daughters and
widows the right to claim land inheritance, many factors discourage such claims, and
women and men generally have little awareness of womens property rights.
Women traditionally rely on their brothers to take care of them and as a result are often
reluctant to pursue land inheritance claims that would reduce brothers share. Given
social norms dictating that it is a mans responsibility to provide for a woman, many
women believe that men have a greater need for land than women do. Finally, women
and men often share deeply-rooted cultural beliefs that land is inappropriate for women to
own
Mobility and Rural Access:
Rural womens mobility outside the home or village is also restricted by security
concerns. Poor roads and the lack of transport services affect the entire populations
mobility in general, but women are particularly affected by the need to adhere to strict
standards for socially acceptable behavior.
Women may be prohibited from traveling outside the village, required to have an escort,
and unable to interact (including proximity seating) with men outside the family.15
Limitations on traveling longer distances preclude rural women from easily accessing
other villages and cities, especially when walking is their only consistent means of
transportation (it is socially acceptable for women to walk on their own or with others).
Rural transport services usually include three-wheelers (auto-rickshaws), pickup trucks,
minibuses, and estate cars, which may be suitable for a family but not for women, who
would have to share space with men who are not from the family.
Financial costs can be greater for women entrepreneurs than for men if women must hire
chaperones, cars, and drivers. (it is socially unacceptable for a woman to drive herself)
These patterns of travel and transport constrain womens participation in economic
activity, making it challenging for women to access financial services outside their
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immediate neighborhoods and communities. This in turn has significant repercussions on

womens entrepreneurship and success in business.
By limiting where women are permitted to go to sell their wares, restrictions on mobility
also influence the terms of sale for their products. In a few instances, women have gained
greater mobility with acceptable escorts and affordable, suitable means of transport.
There is also some acceptance of the strength-in-numbers approach, and women traveling
in groups may be an effective means of circumventing mobility problems.
Access to Services:
Access to credit from financial institutions often depends on the ability to demonstrate
ownership of traditional forms of collateral property such as land, machinery, and
housing. Women, who generally lack title to land and other property, thus have less
opportunity to access financial services. Moreover, social mobilization of producers by
aid agencies is often based on proof of land ownership or to head of household rules that
enable only one family member to register with an association.
More broadly, restrictions on mobility and interaction with men limit womens access to
additional services or resources, including inputs, extension services, marketing,
education, and information. The lack of such access limits women to low-wage, lowvalue employment in agricultural work and can render labor markets unresponsive or
slow to respond to demands for skilled women workers. This implies less security in
employment for women and few prospects for promotion, which are likely to compound
the inter-generational transmission of poverty, particularly for girls and women
Conclusion: Toward a More Nuanced Understanding of Gender in
Agricultural Value Chains
How and to what extent might women participate in Afghanistans expanding export
markets for agricultural commodities? It has briefly reviewed Afghanistans increasing
opportunities to export horticulture products in regional markets and, in particular, to
India. At the same time, it has identified key constraints for womens participation in the
horticulture sector. Social and cultural norms have a substantial impact on womens
1
(i) Land ownership,
2
(ii) Mobility and rural access, and
3
(iii) Access to services.
These three broad constraints constrain women from moving beyond production, basic
processing, and extremely limited marketing of export commodities.
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Promoting and Marketing Opportunities for women producers

The following policy recommendations support womens improved positions in key
horticulture value chains:
Develop value chain action plans that would enhance womens participation:
MAIL should develop value chain action plans for key horticulture export
products, including grapes/raisins, almonds, and saffron. These plans should be
developed in consultation with all stakeholders, such as women producers, other
key value chain actors, private sector, relevant ministries and agencies, NGOs,
and donors.
In supporting the action plans, MAIL should also develop a marketing strategy for
each product to access key regional and international markets. The strategy would
help identify quality standards and certification requirements39, which need to be
addressed by extension packages. This would have to be developed in
consultation with export support agencies, such as EPAA and ACCI, and the
private sector.
Support mobilization of womens producer groups and their aggregation

with male groups at the cluster or district level:
In forming producer groups, the CDCs developed by NSP should serve as the
entry point and provide a governance mechanism by ensuring transparency and
accountability in the selection and management of producer groups. The human
capacity and knowledge of CDC members (in subproject management,
accounting, and procurement capacity, for example) could support producer
groups in undertaking certain group activities.
Aggregating female and male producer groups at the cluster or district level
would not only enable economies of scale that will attract buyers and traders but
also facilitate extension outreach for women, whose male members of households
participate in male groups (in case of the saffron value chain).
Global experiences suggest that by encouraging women to stay in charge of
harvesting and post-harvest processing, there are opportunities for the cluster
organizations to market their products to international buyers, who are willing to
pay a premium for women-managed value addition or businesses (in Ghana,
womens producer groups of mangos are linked to such international buyers).
E.g.: Afghanistan has 17 certification laboratories; however, none is functioning at
present, including the laboratory for saffron in Herat. DACAAR renovated that
laboratory and trained three persons in saffron certification, but it remains to be
active following DACAARs support. MAIL must maintain this facility and retain
the trained individuals. Certification should be issued in collaboration with
ANSA, which the Ministry of Commerce has newly established and which
belongs to the International Organization for Standardization.
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Improve rural outreach by developing a pool of women para-professionals:

MAIL could support creating a pool of women para-professionals at the producer
or cluster/district level by training women high school graduates as well as
building on existing capacities of women already working in the value chains,
such as women farmer trainers or supervisors. In addition to providing extension
services, these para-professionals could serve as entry points for service delivery,
such as through:
(i) Facilitating group formation and accounting support for savings and credit
and/or
(ii) Developing linkages with MFIs and markets.
Following good practices identified in livelihood development projects elsewhere
in South Asia, these para-professionals could be contracted by NGOs or
eventually work for producer groups and associations for fee per business case.
The latter would shift quality control from NGOs to producers themselves, thus
ensuring sustainability.
Develop a certified training program for women extension service providers:

MAIL should develop a systematic extension training program in collaboration
with the Ministries of Education and Higher Education. The program would
provide women extension workers with current knowledge, in particular of
harvesting, post-harvest handling, quality control, and market information.
Another program should also be developed for women para-professionals, who
would require less technical but more pedagogical training on the value chains.
These programs would also offer regular opportunities for re-training to update
the skills of para-professionals. The NSDP could support development of a
certification program and identify training providers. The Faculties of Agriculture
in Kabul, Balkh, and Herat Universities could potentially expand their curricula to
deliver the program to extension workers and para-professionals. It is
recommended that MAIL support these universities to strengthen research and
development of grapes/raisins, almonds, and saffron value chains.
Improve rural road infrastructure to enable access by women service

providers:
Poor public infrastructure, particularly for rural connectivity, is one of the major
constraints on the ability of women service providers, including extension
workers and village-level traders or sales agents, to reach women producers. The
World Bank-financed National Emergency Rural Access Project has been
upgrading tertiary roads to improve access to and from rural areas. Even so, more
investments are necessary to upgrade farm roads, and MAIL and key ministries
should continue investigating alternatives. In building access roads, the hub
approach is recommended. A good practice is also to carefully consult the value
chain actors in particular, processors on the appropriate locations for raw
material/processed product acquisition. This may further guide infrastructure
investment to the economically most appropriate locations.
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E.g.: The hub approach analyzes origin and destination patterns, volumes of
traffic along spokes, means of transport available, and quality of infrastructure to
identify and upgrade key access routes so that products can enter formal regional
and global trade networks. Such a concept is used when populations are widely
dispersed, there are low-volume economic activities, and distances between
households and service provision points are considerable all conditions that
prevail in rural Afghanistan.
Provide value chain innovation grants for women:
A grant facility could be set up to specifically support womens producer groups,
female service providers in a cluster organization, or women managed processing
companies, in innovation and entrepreneurship to promote the value chains of key
horticulture export products for Afghanistan. This incentive could finance womens
producer groups in accessing value addition tools and infrastructure, scholarships for
women service providers, women-to-women exchanges through exposure visits,
womens participation in regional or international exhibitions, or marketing
extension, which was successfully, implemented in Bangladesh with Muslim women
producers. MAIL could manage the grant facility in collaboration with other key
ministries as a gender mainstreaming effort. In approving grants, MAIL and the
ministries must ensure the implementation and sustainability of these grant-funded
activities, particularly those in which women are provided with training on extension
or entrepreneurship, or with links to markets. Because the availability of grants would
be limited, MAIL should also seek opportunities to collaborate with other projects for
financing, including MRRDs Afghanistan Rural Enterprise Development Project
(AREDP).
Use information technology (IT) to enhance womens involvement in value

chains:
Trade associations, NGOs, MAIL, and other key ministries are encouraged to
integrate women more directly into market systems. The service delivery model could
be built around the use of IT, such as a mobile accessible interactive extension or
market information system, which is accessible by women producers, paraprofessionals, service providers, and buyers (wholesalers, processors, and exporters).
Marketing databases being developed by ACCI, etc. could eventually be expanded to
include data that is pertinent to womens other home-based economic development
initiatives, such as embroidery or other non-farm products.
Conclusion: Developing Value Chains That Work for Rural Women
The approach taken in this study has made it possible to identify the key constraints
preventing Afghan women from moving up in the value chains for grapes/raisins,
almonds, and saffron all promising exports for Afghanistan and identify corresponding
recommendations. The main constraints on women are social and cultural norms, which
affect their access to various services, including extension, credit, and marketing.
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As women improve their positions in value chains, it is critical that they remain in charge
of harvesting and post-harvest processing and that quality control is ensured. This would
require enabling women-to-women service delivery by:
(i) Mobilizing womens producer groups;
(ii) Providing extension services on quality control in harvesting and post-harvest
handling;
(iii) Developing a pool of women para- professionals to facilitate easier access to services
at the village or cluster level;
(iv) Enhancing womens access to credit by MFI linkages; and
(v) Using IT for service delivery.
In supporting womens movement up in value chains of grapes/raisins, almonds, and
saffron, this study recommends that MAIL consider taking the following actions in
collaboration with other key ministries and agencies:
(a) Developing value chain action plans and marketing strategies for each value chain,
with an emphasis on womens central involvement in harvesting and post-harvest
processing;
(b) Supporting mobilization of womens producer groups and their aggregation with male
producer groups at cluster or district level to enable extension outreach for women;
(c) Improving rural outreach by developing a pool of women para-professionals, who
could enhance quality control in harvesting and post-harvest handling;
(d) Developing a certified training program for women extension workers as well as paraprofessionals;
(e) Improving rural road infrastructure to enable access by women service providers;
(f) Providing value chain innovation grants for women to facilitate women-to-women
exchanges; and
(g) Using information technology to enhance womens participation in value chain, in
particular, their more direct integration into the market system.
1
E.g.: The marketing extension helped women directly interview wholesalers, processors,
retailers or exporters to understand the market of the products which they produce. They
developed and implemented an action plan with a small grant. As a result, there was an
average 30 percent increase in household income, and two or three different enterprises
developed sequentially per village.
AREDP establishes Village Savings and Loan Associations by federating small savings
groups. The project matches the savings held by the village associations up to a ceiling of
US$ 10,000.
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Womens Roles in the Grape/Raisin, Almond and Saffron Value Chains

Women play a key role in harvesting and post-harvest handling, in particular on smallscale farms. Below are detailed descriptions of activities per product. The labor is mostly
home-based, and thus women are unpaid. In the case of saffron, however, women are
hired by small- or large-scale farmers at Af 200-300 per day (approximately US$ 4-In the
fresh grape value chain, male laborers in large-scale orchards are paid at Af 400 per day
(approximately US$ 8). Their work also includes lifting and loading.
Fresh grapes: Women harvest and pack grapes in 50-kilogram bags with
minimum sorting on small-scale farms. On large-scale farms, male laborers are
hired by exporters to harvest and pack fresh grapes in 10-kilogram cartons or 14kilogram crates and load those on vehicles.
Raisins: On small-scale farms, women produce black and red Aftabi raisins,
which are usually produced from trimming waste, shattered berries, spillage, and
left-over fruit at the end of the harvest season. Women dry these grapes on any
surface, usually bare ground or the roof of a house, and collect them into 50kilogram bags along with dirt, stones, and other contaminants with varying weight
by the harvest. Because of these production processes, raisins are considered to be
of lower quality than keshmesh raisins.
Almonds: Women clean almonds (removing the outer hulls), sun-dry, and collect
them in large bags in the orchards with no sanitary or hygienic considerations.
Although shelled low- to medium-quality almonds fetch prices that are 6070
percent higher throughout the value chain, women do not shell the fruit. This is
because shelling equipment is not available at the producer level; thus, women
cannot shell almonds without cracking the fruit.
E.g.: As of September 30, 2010.

The higher value green keshmesh raisins, on the other hand, are produced more
intensively by drying green grapes in simple, mud-brick structures with a lateral
air flow.
3
4
5
6
7
Saffron: Unlike with raisins or almonds, saffron harvesting and post-harvest

processing are highly labor intensive and time-bound activities. The flowers must
be picked at dawn, and stigmas have to be detached from styles within 48 hours of
harvesting. Women are hired as wage laborers, especially if they or their husbands
participate in a producer association. The producer associations have their own
processing units with electronic driers.
Hence here fresh grapes, raisins, and almonds, the producers sell the bagged
products either to middlemen or village-level traders or at the local market.
Marketing is usually undertaken by men, because women do not interact with
middlemen or village-level traders (who are mostly men), travel to the market, or
lift heavy bags.
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Womens Constraints and Opportunities in the Grape/Raisin, Almond, and

Saffron Value Chains
Women are mostly engaged in the early stages of value chains, playing a key role in
harvesting and post-harvest processing in the three value chains. Because social and
cultural norms do not allow women to interact with men or travel by themselves, it is
men who link households with markets, which includes obtaining input supplies and
selling products at local markets or to middlemen or village-level traders. Men are also
heavily involved in production, in particular the activities that require heavy lifting or
reaching higher branches. It identifies key constraints and opportunities for women
producers and processors in moving up in the grape/raisin, almond, and saffron value
chains by scrutinizing womens roles at each step in the production process.
Constraints and Opportunities for Women Producers
Rural women are heavily engaged in production, harvesting, and post-harvest handling in
the grape/raisin, almond, and saffron value chains by providing unpaid domestic labor in
family orchards and households. Women, in particular, play a key role in processing,
including those in urban or peri-urban centers, who are hired by wholesalers and
processors in the raisin and almond value chains as wage laborers. Their wage is
approximately Af 100 to 200 per day, which is less than half of what male laborers are
paid for harvesting and processing fresh grapes.
Constraints Specific to Women
The constraints highlights challenges specific to women in producing and selling higher
volumes to high-end domestic and export markets in case of the raisin value chain.
Constraints that specifically limit women from moving up to other roles in the raisin
value chains. Given the social and cultural norms that limit rural women from interacting
with men or traveling by themselves, the central constraint for women producers is the
lack of women-to-women service delivery at every stage of the value chain, from
production to marketing at the village and mandvi levels. This affects quality at each
stage in the chain, because it limits womens access to extension services, including
harvesting and post-harvest handling, market (both information and physical access), and
credit.
1
Limited extension services:
MAIL and donor-funded projects provide some extension services, but these are
mostly targeted to men, who own the land. Focus group discussions found that
women had to depend on whatever information the male family member was
willing or able to communicate. Many women expressed their interest in receiving
extension services directly. HLPs experience indicates that the key challenge is to
hire and retain qualified women extension workers who are educated as well as
mobile.
Poor quality control and post-harvest handling:
Even though extension services are provided to women, they largely concern
production, in particular increase in yields, rather than quality control in
harvesting and post-harvest handling. Although women have some basic
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knowledge of cleanliness and quality standards, most are complacent about

achieving them. This is particularly true with raisin production, because it is of
secondary importance to fresh grapes for farmers. Women therefore have no
added incentive, time, or resources (such as mats for drying) to perform more
sophisticated processing. The women almond producers are also aware that
shelled low- or medium-quality almonds fetch higher prices; however, they do not
have tools to shell the almonds without cracking them.
2
Limited or no market information:

Women have little or no market information on price, high value varieties,
sanitation, or quality, unless it is provided through male family members. This is
because the key value chain actors, such as input suppliers and
middlemen/village-level traders are predominantly men, with whom few women
are allowed to interact. Most farmers are highly dependent on sales via
middlemen or village-level traders; thus, men, too, have little idea about selling
varieties, quality requirements, or current prices for their produce in urban
markets such as Kabul.
Poor market access:

Most rural women have limited or no access to their local market, because social
and cultural norms do not allow women to travel by themselves or interact with
male shopkeepers. Womens poor access to public transportation and need for
male escorts has a greater impact on saffron marketing by the womens producer
association in the comparatively conservative Pashtun Zarghoon District than by
the association in Ghoryan District. Afghanistans physical infrastructure is still
poor, moreover, and most farmers have few means of transportation to their
nearest market. Men usually carry one or two bags (about 50 plus kilograms) of
fresh grapes, raisins, or almonds to the nearest market. Because of these
difficulties in rural transportation, small-scale farmers are forced to rely on sales
to middlemen or village-level traders, who have their own transport to travel to
villages, depending on market demand. Farmers have infrequent access to these
traders and less bargaining power than if they could bring their produce directly to
the market.
Lack of appropriate financing services:

In addition to the small number of women loan officers, the loans provided by
MFIs often require collateral. Men usually hold title to land, leaving rural women
with very limited or no access to agricultural financial products without support
from male family members. Moreover, despite emergence of microfinance
institutions (MFIs) and commercial banks in the urban centers, there are few
appropriate financing services that are compliant with sharia (which stipulates
that one must not charge interest on such transactions), that are accessible in the
rural areas, or that provide agriculture loans.
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Opportunities for Women in the Three Value Chains.

In enabling women producers to move up the value chains of the key export products,
the women-to-women service delivery model needs to be developed from producer to
wholesalers/processors/exporters. APA has women sales agents, who act as input
suppliers or traders. They buy raisins or almonds directly from women producers, provide
basic tools such as mats for drying, and enable quality control. Likewise, the Mennonite
Economic Development Associates (MEDA) has worked with women producers to
develop and own vegetable value chains by forming womens producer groups, providing
extension services, developing women sales agents in value addition and marketing, and
linking women with MFIs.
At the producer level, women-to-women service delivery could be facilitated by
mobilizing womens producer groups, providing extension services on post-harvest
handling and quality control, developing women para-professionals36 to enable scale in
rural outreach, facilitating womens access to credit by making MFI linkages, and using
information technology in marketing. The details are provided below:
Mobilize women producer associations:
Womens producer groups or associations are being formed by through DACAAR,
MEDA, HLP, and other donor-funded projects. Womens producer groups are the key
entry point for women-to-women service delivery of:
(i) Extension services, including harvesting and post-harvest handling, by women
extension workers;
(ii) Credit (provided by women loan officer/agents); and
(iii) Inputs and market linkages (through women village-level traders or agents).
Womens producer groups, with some financing, could also undertake or invest in
collective activities, such as setting up a collection point for raisins and almonds.
Such a center would provide a secluded yet accessible area for women producers to
sort, grade, and package fresh grapes to facilitate women-to-women learning in
quality control.
1
Provide extension services on post-harvest handling and quality control:
It is important that women producers are trained in post-harvest handling and quality
control, including sanitation and hygiene, techniques such as drying (using mats,
dryers, or other technology such as solar dryers), sorting, and grading. Women are
also involved in harvesting and packing fresh grapes in small-scale farms. Skills that
women could learn and apply at the household level include appropriate handling,
sorting, grading, storing (for example, under tents), and packaging (for example, in
crates) to reduce damage during transport.
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2
Develop women para-professionals to enable rural service outreach:
Because rural access in remote rural villages is poor and there are a limited number
and availability of women extension workers, the development of women paraprofessionals in these villages would facilitate women producers access to extension
services. HLP is supporting women farmer trainers in their producer groups, while
DACAAR has trained women supervisors in producer associations to provide advice
on post-harvest processing. Their skills and capacities could be further built to
undertake para-professional functions.
3
Facilitate womens access to credit through MFI linkages:

Producer groups allow women to create the collateral they need to access credit.
About 40 percent of HLP-supported womens producer groups have set up savings
boxes with an average savings of approximately Af 8,000 (approximately US$ 160)
per group. Fourteen womens groups in two northern provinces took loans amounting
to of 1.14 million (approximately US$ 22,800) from MFIs.37 MFIs and the financial
sector in general should encourage womens access to finance as well as create
products and services targeted to womens productive and value-adding activities in
agriculture. Efforts to provide loans for women to improve their value-adding and
other activities at the processor level must be designed to accommodate womens
level of business experience. Increasing the presence of female loan officers also
would help women better access key financial services, which in turn would help
them improve their methods and productivity.
1
Use information technology in marketing:
Women in the value chains studied here rarely engage in marketing. Experiences in
neighboring countries suggest that farmers can use information and communications
technology, such as mobile phones and text messages, to stay informed about market
prices, extension support, the availability of inputs, and other subjects useful to them.
While in many societies the use of machines, trade, and transport fall in the male
domain, IT is not yet gendered, and thus it could be used by women producers and
service providers without challenging social norms.
1
Some of these recommendations were piloted with the two womens saffron
producer associations in Herat Province. DACAAR supported the implementation of the
following activities:
2
(a) A saffron value chain development forum,
3
(b) Provision of small grants to enhance post-harvest handling,
4
(c) Development of a manual on quality control and cost recovery,
5
(d) Development of women supervisors to provide extension advices.
1
At the wholesaler/processor level, some women are emerging as middlemen,
village traders, and processors in the raisin, almond, and saffron value chains. APA is
establishing an emerging model for women-to-women service delivery.
2
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Market access through women sales agents:

The roles of middlemen, village-level traders, and input suppliers are usually
connected. Although very few women occupy the role of middleman/trader, many
participants in the study stated that there was an opportunity for greater representation
of women in this role. Female supervisors at processing centers or mandvi already
play a significant role in controlling the quality of raisins, almonds, and saffron. They
could also train rural women producers to attain acceptable quality levels.
1
Development of women-owned processing centers:

In urban and peri-urban centers women are highly involved in processing.
Investment at this level could have a significant impact on womens positions within
the value chain. Such investments should be accompanied by business training for
women in operating and managing such centers.
Conclusion: Enabling Women-to-Women Service Delivery

Women play a key role in harvesting and post-harvest handling in the value chains of
grapes/raisins, almonds, and saffron. Rural women dry and/or pack fruits in family
orchards or homes but are not well aware of quality control and in particular, of hygiene
and sanitation. Although they have some idea of value addition, they do not have the
appropriate equipment, such as mats or tools to shell the fruits. There are few or no
women at higher levels of the value chain, except for urban wage laborers, who are
employed by processing centers or wholesalers at Af 100-200 per day (or Af 100 per 50kilogram of processing). The key constraint for women producers is the set of social and
cultural norms that do not allow women to interact with men, travel by themselves, or
own land. This limits women producers access to various services, such as extension
services, market information, marketing, and credit.
It is, therefore, critical to enable women-to-women service delivery, which would support
rural women in accessing various services, such as extension services, quality control,
marketing, and credit. Women producers could be mobilized to form producer groups,
which would be an entry point for women service providers, including extension workers,
village-level traders or sales agents, and loan officers. Quality control in post-harvest
handling needs to be enhanced by extension workers or sales agents. To ensure outreach
in rural communities, programs should develop women para-professionals at the group or
village level, and these women could then facilitate service links.
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6
5
True Examples for Women in Afghanistan carrying Agricultural activity
1. The Afghan Pride Association: A women-owned food processing company
In Kabul City, the Afghan Pride Association (APA), a processing center owned
and operated by women, adds value to dried fruits and nuts, including raisins and
almonds. The APA has 200 women members, who work at the center as
processors or supervisors. In 2009, APA earned US$ 42,000 from sales made to
hotels, through two exporter unions, and at their two retail shops. The women
supervisors also visit villages to purchase produce directly from women
producers. While APA is willing to pay a premium of 50100 percent to producers
for processed products such as cleaned raisins or shelled, cleaned, and sorted
almonds, most of the produce is processed and packaged at the center. In
completing orders, APA sometimes purchases produce from the wholesale market.
APA is setting up local collection and drying centers that could be equipped with
solar dryers to produce raisins with no dust and dirt; such dryers are being tested.
The local centers would use their transport facilities to collect produce from
women producers. APA cooperates with womens associations such as the
Afghanistan Womens Business Council (AWBC), which has a grassroots network
of women and could provide some assistance in marketing produce at local and
national markets
2. Two saffron producer associations for Afghan women
Herat Province has two associations for women saffron producers with a
combined membership of about 750. One is located in Ghoryan District, which
borders Iran and is relatively amenable to womens education and on-farm
activities, most likely as a result of the migration to Iran that occurred over
Afghanistans more than 20 years of conflict. The other association is in Pashtun
Zarghoon District, which is close to Herat District and relatively less open than
Ghoryan. These differences in openness create differing opportunities for women
in education, financing, and marketing. The Ghoryan association arranges for
members to work as wage laborers for saffron farmers in the district. It has given
temporary membership to 25 widows, who cultivate land leased from a member.
The widows must eventually return the leased land but can keep the bulbs as they
multiply. In the Pashtun Zarghoon association, on the other hand, the members
felt that decision-making was influenced by their husbands, who act as
intermediaries with both commercial and institutional actors. The association in
Pashtun Zarghoon has been cultivating saffron two years longer than the one in
Ghoryan, which explains the differences in saffron production in 2009.
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3. Providing extension services to women: The HLP experience

The Horticulture and Livestock Project (HLP) helps producers adopt improved
practices to increase horticultural and livestock productivity and production. The
Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation, and Livestock implements the project in 11
focus districts in 11 provinces in northeastern and central Afghanistan. The project
has mobilized 160 womens and 225 mens producer groups with a membership
of approximately 4,000 women and 6,000 men respectively. Mobilization usually
involves both females and males in the same households to facilitate better
extension knowledge at the household level.
With the facilitation of Roots of Peace, these womens producer groups receive
horticultural extension services from 18 women extension workers. It has been a
continuous challenge to employ and retain women extension workers. Women
extension workers need to come from the focus districts, have a high school
diploma, and be able to participate in extension training and refreshers provided
by the project. These criteria are the same for male extension workers but are
more strictly applied for the selection of female extension workers, to ensure that
women workers feel more comfortable operating within their communities. Given
the cultural context, this strategy seems to facilitate their retention.
Older women can generally move around the districts with fewer limitations than
younger women, but they are less likely to have completed high school. The
project has hired fresh graduates from high school and provided extension
training and refresher courses. Womens producer groups have benefited from
extension advice on production delivered through these young women. Roots of
Peace are reviewing extension services to ensure that they are culturally
acceptable to women producers and also meet their specific needs and interests
(which include information on improving post-harvest processing).
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Differing Strategies
Apart from the general objectives compiled from the various organizations and
governments, there were two strategies outlined by the Asia Development Bank that took
a different approach. The two strategies have the following objectives:
Developing a feasibility assessment of operating an apex marketing outlet in

Kabul selling products of women with labeling stressing their origin.
Promoting Afghanistan agricultural products by developing fair trade partnerships

in various world markets.
While the first objective is focused at an inner-country initiative that will market products
from rural, disadvantaged women, and the other aims to link developed countries with
Afghan fair trade items, the objectives have similarities because they are meant to build
awareness of the unstable standard of living of those in the Afghan agricultural sector.
Conclusions and Recommendations
In the two countries, as compared to men, women participation in most of the
agricultural activities were important, and particularly their contribution in
livestock-related activities was amazingly high. Therefore any investment
programme in livestock in the rural areas of these countries should consider
women participation in the planning and implementation phases.
Women are largely denied from off-farm income generating activities due to
socio-cultural norms which restrict them to move outside of their homestead and
limitations for access to education of girls have largely hampered their
employability and competitiveness.
Trainings women in income generating activities (to create in-house jobs) such as
dairy processing, cashmere production and processing, handicrafts, carpet and felt
making would offer them more opportunity. This could be further strengthened by
forming women producer groups which will improve their access to markets,
credits, and bargaining power.
Educating women are educating family: they are not only equal partners in crop
and livestock production and management but also are responsible for the food,
nutrition and well-being of the family and society.
Easing mobility constraints would require fundamental cultural shifts which could
only happen over time through education; long-term cultural change will come
most powerfully from educating girls
Female enrolments in school could be increased by bringing schools to where the
girls live or bringing girls safely to schools. This could be facilitated through
careful consultative process respecting cultural and traditional norms.
Increasing funding for capacity building program and stipends to increase girls
school attendance would be necessary.
It is important to make women feel secure enough to work outside their homes,
even when this is not the norm.
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As men are overburdened for off-farm activities when this is available, cultural
shifts to encourage women employability would significantly improve the food
security situation of the families.
In tribal regions of the two countries, females do not make decisions on major
incomes except in isolated cases where they are allowed to keep incomes from
sale of dairy products.
Policies should incorporate measures to create an environment that enables the
reduction of gender gaps
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RAMP
RAMP, Rebuilding Agricultural Markets in Afghanistan Program, is a project of USAID
implemented under a contract with Chemonics International. The strategic objective of
RAMP is Increased Marketable Output and its two intermediate results are Increased
On-farm Productivity and Increased Processing and Market Productivity. RAMP will
improve food security and increase rural incomes by introducing practical methods for
increasing crop and livestock productivity; strengthen agricultural markets by expanding
financial services to micro, small and medium-sized agribusinesses; and strengthen farm
and agribusiness competitiveness by rehabilitating rural irrigation systems, roads and
local market facilities. All of these activities involve the participation of the communities
and farm households of rural Afghanistan both men and women.
RAMP has recognized the need to reach women through its activities. This attention to
women is in line with The United States Afghan Women and Children Act of 2001 which
is to seek the involvement of women at every stage of reconstruction as planners,
implementers, and beneficiaries. It is also consistent with the Automated Directive
System (ADS) Guidelines of USAID which require that gender be integrated into all of
the work of USAID in order to contribute to effective programs, social equity, and
sustainable change. Ultimately RAMP will expose at least 500,000 farm households to
new technologies and assure their adoption. This implies some 3.5 million people or oneseventh of Afghanistan's population will be directly affected by RAMP at the farm level,
creating the opportunity to address gender issues in a large segment of the population and
expanding women's economic and social participation.
Three of the RAMP socio-economic criteria directly involve farm households (raise
farmers above poverty line; increase income for producers; increase job opportunities).
The gender strategy proposed here will have a direct impact on farm households through
the use of participatory methods, gender analysis and outreach to rural families,
particularly rural women. The farm households RAMP is meant to serve are to be
involved in the decision-making and implementation of activities and indicators are to be
used to measure the success in involving both the men and women of these households.
In order to ensure sustainability it is not enough, however, to simply implement field
level projects with farm families. Rather there must also be supportive policies and
structures in place that are responsive to working with farm households and communities.
Therefore, the gender strategy proposed here advocates for the strengthening of RAMPs
institutional structures and policies so that they encourage a participatory approach and
acknowledge womens rights to agricultural assets, education and participation in the
civil society and political life of Afghanistan.
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Marketing Poultry products

Poultry
Village poultry production is a culturally acceptable practice that addresses both the food
insecurity and income generation needs of the household. Poultry provide scarce animal
protein and can be sold or bartered to generate income.
For example, eggs are an ideal complementary food for children in that they are a
hygienic source of high quality protein and vitamin A. Poultry also provides manure for
fertilizer use on household garden plots. Village poultry require the lowest capital
investment of any livestock species and production can begin in a relatively short period
of time.
Most poultry in Afghanistan, like many developing countries of the world, are maintained
as backyard flocks and can be characterized as a scavenger system of production. The
next section of this document defines four types of poultry production systems in order to
understand how traditional scavenger systems can evolve into more productive systems.
Marketing of products
Expanding the training network into an input supply and marketing

network:
After the initial training period of 5-6 months the relationship between the
trainees(village women) and the Project is maintained and further developed
through the team leaders of the Poultry Producer Groups (PPG) which are visited
by the trainers at least once a week.
The team leaders are the key to network development and play a pivotal role in
marketing poultry products in urban centers. Team leaders are village women who
are selected from among the trainees and by the trainees. They have demonstrated
that they are respected by their neighbors and able to visit other poultry owners in
the village freely. The team leaders are also able to travel to urban centers to
conduct procurement and marketing activities on behalf of their producer group.
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In order to ensure continued development of the network, the team leaders receive
additional advanced training in disease identification and treatment, and
instructions on how to keep financial and other records. Important services, which
are required on a continuous basis, are the supply and application of vaccines, the
supply of mixed feed, and the marketing of eggs.
Vaccines and important medicines are stored by the Project in the provincial
centers and made available to the PPGs upon request. Small feed processing
centers with a grinder and mixer have been established in all five target provinces
to produce mixed feed for sale to the Poultry Producer Groups. After the first six
months all inputs and services (feed, vaccines, and medicines) are provided to the
village poultry producers on a cost basis. Money collected from the trainees for
the distributed pullets is used as a revolving fund to start the operation of the
Poultry Producer Group.
Poultry Producer Groups empower networked women to conduct business:

The Project staff, in particular the leaders of the training teams, the provincial
poultry monitors, and the Poultry Advisors, assist and guide the PPGs to establish
contacts with shop owners in the provincial centers for the marketing of eggs.
There is a real economic incentive for the team leaders to provide the on-going
services described above: they receive a payment for services as a fee or a
commission for the marketing eggs. It is this economic incentive that ensures the
sustainability of the network and provides village women with an opportunity to
expand production over time.
Market opportunities for locally produced eggs:

Afghan consumers prefer locally produced brown shelled eggs over imported
white shelled eggs and are willing to pay a 30-40% premium in urban areas for
locally produced eggs.
This preference is because the Afghan consumer values egg freshness and will
seek out farm fresh eggs from vendors. For example, the average retail price for
local eggs in Kabul was $1.28 per dozen and the average retail price for imported
eggs in the same retail shop was $0.82 per dozen. The premium for local eggs in
the Kabul retail market was therefore 36% higher than imported eggs at the time
of the survey (February 2005). This survey also found that retailers have a higher
gross margin on the sales of local table eggs ($0.223 per dozen) than on the sale
of imported table eggs ($0.127 per dozen). This is likely due to both the larger
sales volume of imported eggs and the irregular availability of local eggs.
Retailers reported that they sell about 12% local eggs and 88% imported eggs.
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Implementation of RAMP/FAO Project:

Project output metrics
21,364 women trained in poultry management
203,926 pullets distributed
850 producer groups established
773 producer group revolving funds established
935,353 vaccinations administered
5 feed mills established
Project impact metrics related to poultry production and income generation,

include:
Average producer maintains 9.9 hens out of 12 through laying cycle Average
mortality rate 1.1 out of 12 or 9% mortality through laying cycle
Average 8 additional hens added to flock with own resources
1,795 eggs produced per laying cycle (target 1,800)
818 eggs sold per laying cycle (target 900)
46% of eggs marketed and thus 54% consumed
Increased household income for the existing 15,511 families (as of November
2005) with hens producing eggs was estimated to be valued at $1,406,432. This
sum includes revenue from about 13,146,660 eggs and 6,827 culled pullets. This
calculation was made as follows: A total of 15,511 village producers have hens
producing eggs, of which 4,000 producers are considered to have produced 1,795
eggs; another 2,000 producers produced 1,490 eggs; 7,411 producers produced
396 eggs; and 2100 producers produced 120 eggs. The total egg production from
all of these producers is estimated to be about 2,545,281 eggs per month and the
value of these eggs calculated to be $311,032 (2,545,281eggs valued at $0.122 per
egg) or about $20 per producer per month. Note that on average only 46% of the
eggs produced are sold, thus nutritional benefits of the other 54% of the eggs
consumed must be considered.
The overall Project results described above demonstrate that village women can:
be trained in fundamental poultry husbandry techniques, organize into an effective
network that links poultry producers to urban markets, establish economic
incentives for team leaders to facilitate market access and input supply; and
generate income and provide high quality food nutrients to village women on a
sustainable basis.
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Marketing of Handicraft made by themselves

Introduction
Afghanistan was known for its crafts, jewelry, textiles and delicate needlework.
The Herat region of northern Afghanistan has historically been the center of silk
production, textiles, and a burgeoning garment industry. However, this industry
like the rest of the country was devastated and dismantled by over two decades of
war.
The industry first experienced modern disruptions during the Afghan-Russian war
of 1979-1989, when supply routes and exports were effectively cut off. All three
sectors silk production, textile production, and garment manufacture were further
eroded by the establishment of the Taliban fundamentalist government. Women,
historically the mainstay of the garment and textile industries, were not allowed
access to factory work, education, even literacy. There are thousands of women all
over Afghanistan who work from home, producing handicrafts (primarily
embroidered pieces but also handloom fabric, felt etc.) for sale via various market
channels. During Taliban times, there was little demand for handicrafts within
Afghanistan and this lack of demand combined with the poor economic situation
of the country as a whole meant that women were ready to work for low wages.
The result was that Afghanistan became an ideal production area for cheap, good
quality handicrafts for export and many traders identified groups of skilled
women (often in fairly remote rural areas) whom they supplied with inputs and
then directly exported the products to neighboring countries such as Pakistan for
re-export. This trade continues today although it is not clear how it is changing in
the current economic situation.
Many of the men and women skilled in the traditional arts were forced to migrate
and many are still employed at very low wages at factories in Iran and Pakistan.
They are unable to return to Afghanistan due to a lack of job opportunities,
infrastructure and market chain for these products. Women currently working in
this sector inside of Afghanistan face many obstacles. Women in Herat have
restricted mobility and are forbidden to work with males. They are often taken
advantage of due to lack of direct access or knowledge of the markets. Some of
them are paid less than $50 to work at home on pieces that require nearly three to
four months to complete.
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Interest in arts and crafts of Afghanistan has been increasing. Today, the bustling
Chicken Street (the antiques and crafts market) in Kabul is testimony to continued
interest in local art products. However, many of these products are purchased for
souvenirs and do not have much enduring practical value.
Especially locally produced apparel, which usually displays delicate and timeconsuming needlework, is made with outdated designs and cheap fabrics that
bleed and shrink. Difficulties such as these issues make it difficult for the artists to
price their products accordingly and capture the value of their craft.
E.g.:
Zardozi-Value Chain Research

Objective
The objective is to develop an effective strategy for the integration of homebound
women handicraft producers into viable markets.
Method
Develop appropriate questionnaires for stakeholders including women producers,
traders, retailers and NGOs.
Carry out in-depth interviews with traders in Peshawar, Jalalabad, Mehterlam and
Kabul, focus group discussions with women producers in villages in Jalalabad and
Laghman provinces, and key informant interviews with other value chain
stakeholders in Jalalabad.
Carry out additional interviews with collectors, retailers, designers, exporters and
input suppliers as appropriate and possible.
Develop a sustainable market development strategy on the basis of value chain
analysis.
Finalise the strategy with input from an expert panel.
Expected Outputs
A market assessment report on handicraft products (primarily embroidered pieces
such as bags, purses, clothing, pillows, tablecloths etc.)
The research will provide:
Recommendations of districts for project implementation
A description of sources of handicrafts, particularly embroidery by style and
quality
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Value chain mapping of the markets, producers and intermediaries

Identification of designers involved in the sub sector if applicable
Analysis of input suppliers, their problems and points of possible intervention to
improve quality and coverage
Constraints faced by producers, buyers, traders, and service providers, preventing
products of rural women reaching effective markets
Potential markets for expansion of the sub sector
Opportunities and leverage points for sustainable solutions
A strategy for development of selected value chains
A design for program implementation
RESULTS OF RESEARCH PRODUCTION AND MARKETING

Traders in Peshawar
Interviewing traders in Peshawar are as follows:
Eastern Afghanistan handicrafts cannot generally compete on price with lower
paid labour in Pakistan, especially Sindh
With regard to beadwork dresses, India has the competitive edge with mechanized
work
There appears to be potential for Laghman beadwork belts, trim, shoulder pieces
Men are responsible for the more lucrative machine produced zanjeera (chain
stitch)
There may be an opportunity with regard to swati-style embroidery that requires
further investigation
Women do not value the work in old or used pieces and sell them for almost
nothing in order to get new beads or other personal items
Women are at times able to access markets through kawal traders who deal in
womens goods and are reported to barter old embroidery for kawal products.
Zanjeera embroidery Dress
Sindhi embroidery dress
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Traders in Jalalabad
Traders in Jalalabad are very similar to those in Peshawar the products and the sources
are generally the same. We saw machine beadwork on dresses from India, Sindhi
embroidery, chermadozi on velvet, zanjeera silk dresses etc. In addition to these, we
found some local work in Jalalabad that may provide opportunities for market
development
From meeting with traders in Peshawar, many of which were supported in
Jalalabad
Women producers in eastern Afghanistan produce marketable products including
beadwork belts and dress trims, Sindhi-style trim and dress fronts, contemporary
styled kuchi dresses, possibly mens Kandahari shirts, and some innovations such
as the Gujarati dress.
Selected products have potential to compete with imports from Peshawar
Beadwork belts
Sindh Dress
Kuchi Dress
Gujrati Dress
Traders in Mehterlam
Visits to the market in Mehterlam did not provide any evidence of locally sourced
handcrafted clothing or accessories. We followed up on the report of mens Kandahari
shirts being sold here, but could not find any and no trader was aware of such shirts being
available in the market.
Traders in Kabul
Both retail shops and wholesales outlets in Kabul to understand the competitive
environment, and to ascertain the marketability of the proposed products in the capital
city. The majority of the products are from India, China and Pakistan, with a few from
Turkey. The price points are very low, so selling directly to retail would provide greater
profits for producers, particularly while the quantity of products is low.
Producers in Laghman
In Laghman, interviewed women from two villages about the products they are currently
making and selling. In both villages Deh Mallakh and Kala Akhund women are not
producing for markets, but there is interest to do so. We saw a range of embroidery and
beading that is made for their own use e.g., kandahari childs shirt, beaded purse,
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chermadozi velvet dress, pakhtadozi, chagali, moradozi but they do not have access to
markets and no awareness of what they might produce. In addition, the quality of
products, and the ability to deliver appropriate quality and quantity would take time to
develop, and their pricing expectations are not completely realistic. We understand from
our Afghan staff that these villages are typical in the region. Unfortunately, NGOs have
been in both villages with various training programs, but none have led to sustainable
market access and ongoing production of marketable goods.
Producers in Nangarhar
Interviewed with home-based producers in Gaochak and Hisare Shahi camps in
Nangarhar. At Gaochak camp we were shown a sequined and beaded dress bodice that
might compete with the Ghazni embroidered ones. To verify this potential market
opportunity, they showed the bodice to a shopkeeper in Kuchi Market in Jalalabad and
the attendant indicated that they would be willing to test market the bodice if cuffs were
also provided. They did not find other products of interest in the camps. There was a lot
of cross-stitch and Kashmiri style embroidery although this work is quite fine, it is not
marketable.
Zardozi Staff
Interview with producers and Zardozi staff are as follows:
Commercial production of handicrafts in eastern Afghanistan is limited.
There is a range of skills in embroidery and beadwork, but these have not been
developed in response to market demand.
Although women have low awareness of marketable products, there are
opportunities for some products to be developed to meet market demand.
Embroidery skill levels and quality are inconsistent. There would be challenges
with regard to order management.
Womens pricing expectations are not always reasonable.
The five most viable products from eastern Afghanistan are beadwork belts and
dress accessories, hand-sequined dress bodices, Sindhi-style trim for kuchi
dresses, hand beaded Punjabi suits, and contemporary style kuchi dresses.
Designers
Many shopkeepers reported designing dresses and combinations (e.g., style of bodice
with different types of fabric, old versus new beads etc.). In some cases we witnessed
innovations such as machine braid imported from China used to create a bodice and dress
trims. Shopkeepers recognize that new designs are attractive to customers and were
therefore interested in working with the project to test market innovative products.
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The sub sector map illustrates the selected value chain on which the project will focus,
and the changes that are envisaged for the market channels. Solutions to invigorate the
value chain include:
1) Access to higher quality inputs for home-based producers of embroidery and
beadwork;
2) Market linkages through sales agents who also provided embedded services to
producers such as quality control and order management;
3) Improved skills in terms of designs and embroidery styles demanded by the market;&
4) Market outlets that stock and sell the products of home-based producers.
KEY CONSTRAINTS AND SOLUTIONS
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Projects
Projects E.g.:1- Zardozi
Phase One Product Development and Market Testing
Project Title- Product Development and Market Testing for Home Producers in Eastern
Afghanistan
Project Purpose
Introduction of new products with which home based women are able to compete
in the market.
Assessment of market viability of new products both in terms of consumer
demand and costing/pricing.
Development of appropriate models for sustainable production market linkages
for home based women.
Project Goal (Long-Term Program Objective)
To integrate women home producers of handicraft items into effective markets
thereby increasing incomes and improving household well-being.
Resource (activities)
Form and train producer groups.
Identify shopkeepers in regional cities to test new products.
Recruit and train market facilitator couples.
Output
Producer groups trained in six villages / camps in Eastern Afghanistan (one
cluster per province).
Shopkeepers informed of project and goals, participate in trials of products and
provide feedback to project staff.
Market facilitator couples represent the producer clusters, and begin to manage
orders and provide quality control.
Impact (Post Project)
Women home producers make products that are competitive in terms of design,
quality and pricing in selected regional markets.
Markets for products of women in eastern Afghanistan are growing.
Outcomes (Life of Phase One Pilot)
Home producers have new capacity to manufacture up to three new products with
market appeal.
Market demand for one to three of the new with fair returns to home producers.
Husband and wife teams provide effective linkages to input and output markets.
Testing of products, production clusters, markets and market linkages leads to
refinement in pilot design for the next phase commercialization.
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Performance Indicators
Number of products that are competitive in the market.
Number of women producing new products.
Number and diversity of sustainable and equitable market channels.
Volume of product being sold.
Incomes of home-based women producers increased.
Standard of living indicators
No. of marketable products
Number of families represented by active women producers.
Number of women passing new skills to other women in their
household and extended family compound.
Shopkeepers satisfied with product quality, design and cost.
Percentage of producers reporting products being sold for fair
return on labour.
Effectiveness of husband and wife teams in terms of input and
output market linkages.
Models for production and market access understood and
documented.
Number of producer groups formed within each cluster.
Number of producer groups receiving training on new products.
Number of shopkeepers participating in market trials.
Number of cities where product testing is occurring.
Number of recruited and trained market facilitator couples.
Effectiveness of model in providing access to input and output
markets.
Assumptions Risk Indicators

ASSUMPTIONS
Renewed conflict does not impact the functioning of value chains.
Socio-cultural and economic factors do not hinder women receiving a fair return
on products.
Monopolies do not develop.
Producers have capacity to respond to market feedback in terms of production
standards.
Women are able to pass skills along to other family members.
Project is able to reach producers and form into groups for training and market
linkages.
Shopkeepers provide useful feedback re market response.
Husband and wife teams are a viable market model.
RISK INDICATORS
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Complex and organic local networks are encouraged and able to withstand
renewed disruptions due to conflict.
Program develops context sensitive models that ensure womens benefit.
Innovations in market development strategies facilitate diverse and competitive
market channels.
Resources (training and technical support) available to producer clusters.
Return on efforts to women participants creates pull from households and
extended families for participation.
Project works with local womens groups and community leaders both male and
female.
Project is sensitive to shopkeeper motivations and limitations.
Market teams receive support and training.
Phase Two Commercialization

Project Title- Commercialization of New Products from Home Producers in Eastern
Afghanistan
Project Purpose
Marketable items from Phase One are introduced to more home-based producers.
Market channels for viable products from Phase One are diversified and
strengthened.
Commercialization of Market Facilitators to fully-fledged Sales Agents.
Project Goal (Long-Term Program Objective)
To integrate women home producers of handicraft items into effective markets
thereby increasing incomes and improving household well-being.
Resource (activities)
Form and train additional producer groups in existing or new clusters.
Identify additional market outlets including shopkeepers, wholesalers, and
exporters.
Train and support growing number of sales agent teams.
Output
Producer groups trained in six additional villages / camps in Eastern Afghanistan.
Receptive market channels and outlets identified.
Sales agents linked to new market channels, and supported in developing
additional linkages.
New sales agent models encouraged and supported such as community sales
agents.
Sales agents trained on and receive TA for business and market development,
quality control, design innovation.
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Impact (Post Project)

Women home producers make products that are competitive in terms of design,
quality, materials and pricing in selected regional markets.
Markets for products of women in eastern Afghanistan are growing.
Outcomes (Life of Phase Two Pilot)

Increased numbers of women home producers in Afghanistans eastern provinces
are able to make marketable goods.
Market demand is increasing and sales channels diversifying for new products
with fair returns to women producers.
Husband and wife teams provide effective linkages to markets to women
producers on a commercial basis.
Increased numbers of sales agent teams including community based sales agents.
Performance Indicators
Number of products that are competitive in the market.
Number of women producing new products.
Number and diversity of sustainable and equitable market channels.
Volume of product being sold.
Incomes of home-based women producers increased.
Standard of living indicators
No. of women producing marketable goods both project trainees and those
taught by family member.
Women reporting increases in house hold income.
No. of active market channels purchasing products on a regular basis.
Percentage of producers reporting products being sold for fair return on labour.
Commercial sustainability and effectiveness of husband and wife sales agent
teams (profits)
Number of active and viable sales agent teams.
Sales agent teams liaise with women producers and provide feedback on products
and access to inputs
Number of producer groups formed and trained within each cluster.
Number of producer groups receiving training on new products.
Number of new market linkages created.
Number of cities where new outlets identified and sales agents connected.
Number of recruited and trained sales agent couples.
Number of sales agent models emerging in market.
Assumptions Risk Indicators

ASSUMPTIONS
Renewed conflict does not impact the functioning of value chains.
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Socio-cultural and economic factors do not hinder women receiving a fair return
on products.
Monopolies do not develop.
Additional market channels are receptive to new products.
Sales Agent model is commercially viable.
Project is able to reach additional producers and form into groups for training and
market linkages.
Market absorbs more products.
Other potential agents view sales role as desirable.
RISK INDICATORS
Complex and organic local networks are encouraged and able to withstand
renewed disruptions due to conflict.
Program develops context sensitive models that ensure womens benefit.
Innovations in market development strategies facilitate diverse and competitive
market channels.
Feedback from shopkeepers in Phase One is used to refine approaches for Phase
Two expansion.
Sales Agents receive training and support on market and business development
issues.
Project works with local womens groups and community leaders both male and
female.
Project diversifies linkages to a range of market outlets in various locations.
Success of existing sales agent teams promoted and new players encouraged to
participate.
Project E.g.:2- U.S.-Afghan Reconstruction Council (US-ARC)

The U.S.-Afghan Reconstruction Council (US-ARC) has undertaken a business,
employment, and local capacity development strategy in Herat to contribute to
revitalization of traditional arts of Afghanistan through private sector/economic
development, training and jobs creation. With relatively modest capital support, it is
believed these industries can be revived.
Project Summary: The aim of this project is:
i) To apply a market-driven strategy to rediscover and enhance the delicate traditional
arts of Afghanistan and present them to consumers through modern applications; and
ii) To develop a profitable enterprise for women with skills in traditional needlepoint
hand-crafts and sewing that facilitates exercise in quality improvement, product
development to meet modern-day demand, marketing, and institution building.
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Project Description:
This project proposes to use the assistance of established apparel industry and experts to
provide and apply a market-driven strategy to rediscover and enhance the delicate
traditional arts of Afghanistan and introduce them to international markets through
modern applications, develop a profitable enterprise for women with skills in traditional
crafts, facilitate exercise in quality improvement, product development, marketing, and
institution building. Also, the project aims to establish a venue for women to improve
their skills, gain knowledge of modern application of their arts, produce varying products
that can meet both local and international standards, and earn adequate and above
subsistence wages.
Such a revival will bring infrastructural improvements to Afghanistan, support literacy
(and ultimately democratic institution-building), and generate hard-currency industries
for export.
Pictures of the Academy:
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ILO
Afghan women are taking their handicraft skills to the market and playing an active role
in the countrys reconstruction and development as ILO TV reports:
Behind the blue burqa is an Afghan businesswoman on her way to work and shedding the
restraints of the past. Decades of war and repression confined women to their homes,
unable to work or study.
Today nearly 90 per cent of them are illiterate. Few are encouraged to venture outside the
home to find work.
But a growing number of women are finding that the handicraft skills they practice at
home can form the basis of their own business. Nasima Payman is one of these women.
She travelled to Italy to study handicraft design through an International Labour
Organization project that trains women entrepreneurs.
Nasima Payman, handicraft Designer
In the time of the Taliban we were not allowed to go out of the houses alone. When I
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went to Italy, it meant traveling far from my country, but fortunately Afghan women have
more freedom now and we would like to be active and work in society.
Nasima now works with a team of women who sew her designs. With support from the
Marisa Bellisario Foundation the ILOs project has reached over 3000 women.
Their handicraft production has improved to the point where they are poised to enter a
global market.
Latifa Abasy studied at the ILOs International Training Centre in Turin, Italy and is
passing on her knowledge to other Afghan women.
Latifa Abasy, International Trade Development Director, Afghan Womens
Business Federation
We use a training toolkit from the International Labour Organisation to train women in
Kabul and other provinces. Step by step, they are learning how to start a business, even
with small amounts of money.
Another Turin graduate, Gulsum Satarzai, runs a handicraft market in Kabul set up
exclusively for businesses run by women.
Gulsum Satarzai, Director of Afghan Women Business Association
Before the trip to Italy, we didnt have the know-how to market our skills, but now we are
able to sell our products both inside Afghanistan and internationally.
Despite the odds, women are pushing for their place in the rebuilding of Afghanistan.
Grants
Purpose of Grant:
This grant will fund programs designed to train men and women in traditional Afghan
arts, crafts, and cultural skills; support adaptations that modify products for the modern
market; and other activities to capitalize on Afghanistans rich traditional arts for
economic benefit. For example, projects can fund master teaching of silk weaving and
dying, wood carving, pottery, jewelry making, and cooking techniques; develop new
high-market value products using traditional skills; and marketing these for domestic and
international markets. Projects should either be targeted toward women or benefit men
and women equally.
Only projects in which women play substantive roles at the higher levels of management,
marketing, or decision-making will be competitive for funding.
Proposals should clearly demonstrate that the grantee has the capacity to hire experts and
provide benefits for women. A clear sustainability plan for the business must be outlined.
A plan for market research, including consultations with international designers and
potential buyers, is strongly encouraged. Small investments in equipment are permitted.
In the proposal, please clearly outline whether the products are envisioned for the
domestic, regional, or global market, and provide a projected sales plan.
Projects that build on existing businesses, cooperatives, and markets are especially
competitive.
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The emphasis of this funding opportunity is on providing training to keep traditional arts
alive and improve on them with modern, market-relevant, price-competitive designs.
Cost-sharing and reinvestment of profits from project activities are strongly encouraged.
OVERVIEW
Since July 2009, the Ambassadors Small Grants Program (ASGP) to Support Gender
Equality has provided institutional capacity development and advocacy support to
women-focused Afghan civil-society organizations (CSOs) via grants to improve gender
equality, help women secure improved socioeconomic opportunities, and advocate for
womens rights. ASGP works closely with the Afghan Ministry of Womens Affairs
(MoWA) and Afghan CSOs in all 34 provinces of Afghanistan.
The goal of ASGP is to improve the status and quality of life of Afghan women and girls
by strengthening the capacity of women-focused CSOs to contribute to the social,
economic, and political development of women. Flexible, rapid-response grants enhance
womens opportunities in capacity development, gender mainstreaming, advocacy,
economic development, education and literacy, health, vocational training, and social and
political participation.
CURRENT ACTIVITIES
Institutional capacity development:
Implement an institutional strengthening plan for larger CSO partners
Grants:
Fund quick impact grants, service delivery grants, advocacy coordination grants, and
targeted sustainability grants
Advocacy:
Support the Afghan Womens Advocacy Coalition (AWAC), a platform for CSOs and
individuals to work with MoWA for nationwide advocacy to improve womens and
girls access to education, womens access to justice, and womens political
participation and leadership
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Awarded more than 1,000 grants totaling $17.2 million to support women-focused
civil-society groups in 34 provinces
Registered 311 new organizations with Afghan Government institutions
Conducted institutional and gender audits to assess organizational needs and
provide ongoing technical support to more than 120 women-focused CSOs
working nationwide
Established and supported the AWAC, comprised of ASGP advocacy coordination
grant recipients, individuals and other civil-society partners who are leading
nationwide advocacy efforts and campaigns focusing on womens and girls
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access to education, womens access to justice, and womens political

participation and leadership
Signed a memorandum of understanding between ASGP and the MoWA to
strengthen the capacity of the ministry to advocate for gender equality, promote
the development of AWAC, and oversee implementation of the National Action
Plan for Women of Afghanistan
Helped AWAC secure letters of commitment from 18 provincial governors to
formalize their support for womens rights and the prevention of violence against
women
First Womens Market Opens in Mazar-e-Sharif

In response to the need to create more business opportunities for Afghan women,
Balkh provincial leaders and local female entrepreneurs today celebrated the
opening of a Womens Market in Mazari Sharif. The new market is a joint effort
between USAID, the Balkh Provincial Womens Affairs Department, and the
World Women Association. The ceremony highlighted the importance of
empowering women to play a role in Afghanistans economic development.
The womens market, the only market of its kind in Mazari Sharif, houses 20
women-owned stores that sell a range of goods from handicrafts to beauty
supplies and photography equipment. The shops will provide employment for
more than 80 local women.
Speaking at the event, Deputy Minister of Women Affairs Palwasha Shaheed
Kakar said, The establishment of markets and business facilities to empower
women plays a vital role and helps them gain economic freedom and help support
their families. We appreciate USAID for supporting Rabia Balkhi Womens
Market and all the businesswomen in Balkh.
Responding to a request from the Womens Affairs Department and the World
Women Association to support income generation opportunities for local women,
USAID provided two grants totaling $58,700 to rehabilitate the market building,
to purchase basic equipment to help the women open their shops, and to unite and
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train the shop owners through the creation of the World Women Association. An
Afghan firm completed construction work on the marketplace structure.
I never had a shop before this because there was no womens market and this
was a serious obstacle because culturally, women are not supposed to do business
with men, said Shafiqa, a market shop owner. The new market is now an
appropriate and suitable location for all women. We can share business related
challenges and issues and can find workable solutions. The monthly income from
the business will allow me to pay monthly household expenses.
USAIDs Afghanistan Small and Medium Enterprise Development project
increases opportunities for trade, employment, and investment by improving
private sector productivity, targeting small and medium enterprises and their
supporting private sector institutions through grants and a full range of business
development services. To date, the USAID project has established and/or
renovated 82 marketplaces, trained more than 4,900 entrepreneurs, and helped
390 business associations to provide better service to their members.
Afghanistan: More Women Operating Their Own Businesses

Women in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e Sharif has recently begun running their
own businesses. The project is strongly supported by the country's Ministry of Women's
Affairs, which hopes to get women into an area currently dominated by men and make
them financially independent.
In Mazar-e Sharif in recent weeks, several women have begun operating their own shops
and selling handicrafts, cosmetics, and clothing.
A New Beginning
It is an unusual sight for Afghanistan -- where for years women were barred from public
life -- and it is also a small step in bringing them into spheres previously considered to be
reserved for men.
Among the new shopkeepers is Bibi Roghya, who has a small stall at a busy market. She
sells traditional clothing that has been made by other Afghan women.
She says while there is some disapproval of her and her fellow women's work, most
people hail the new trend.
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"Maybe 10 percent of people don't agree with women being shopkeepers but the rest of
the people, 90 percent, welcome us," she said. "A lot of women have expressed their
happiness, they say they want a big market for women selling stuff."
Greater Independence
Some women have said that they feel more comfortable buying from a woman rather than
from a male shopkeeper. The move has also been welcomed by men, including this
Mazar-e Sharif resident, Wakeel Ahmad, who says he's thrilled to see women run their
own shops.
"I saw these two women's shops here and it makes me very happy to see women doing
business," he said. "I'm very happy -- it's a good move. We hope to have more and more
women's shops here; it will make life easier for women."
There has been also some criticism but not enough to stop the project.
Ahmad Shah Ansari, who leads prayers at the town's main mosque, says it is
inappropriate for women to sell in public without proper Islamic dress.
"At this moment women should not open shops," he said. "Shari'a [law] lets men and
women do business on the condition that they wear an Islamic veil. But under the
conditions we have here, women [cannot have shops]."
Concept to Spread?
But officials at Afghanistan's Ministry of Women's Affairs say they are determined to
help more women operate their own businesses and become economically self-sufficient.
Karimeh Salek is a senior public relations official at Afghanistan's Women's Affairs
Ministry. She tells RFE/RL that the ministry will help set up more shops for women in
the coming weeks and months.
"Women have the permission to do so in Mazar," she said. "But In Bamyan women [also]
run their own shops. Women come from all over Bamyan and are excited to buy what
they need from other women; we want to apply [this practice] in 34 provinces, of course
in provinces that enjoy better security. We want women to have their own shops, like they
do in Kabul, in the women's garden (a Kabul market where there are women
shopkeepers) we have about 20 shops."
Salek said the move is part of the ministry's efforts to break free from the last remnants of
the Taliban regime -- which had banned women from schools and the workplace -- and to
change the society's attitude and views toward women. She believes that the project could
also lead to a reduction in domestic violence against women.
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"The better the [financial situation] of a family gets, you see that there is less violence,"
she said. "If a family has a bad economic situation there are tensions, fights, and violence,
and the rights of women get violated."
Inspiring Hope
Women in Mazar-e Sharif enjoy relatively more freedom than women living in the
southern parts of Afghanistan. Yet Zohreh Safi, a correspondent with RFE/RL's Radio
Free Afghanistan in Mazar-e Sharif, says the project has given women courage and hope
for a better future.
"There is great interest and happiness among women [knowing] that they can work as
shopkeepers or that woman can do what men can do," Safi said. "It's a very good move
[and] has lifted women's morale."
Salek from the Women's Affairs Ministry said she hopes the project will have an impact
on women's situation in other parts of the country as well.
"Since the establishment of the interim government the ground for women has been made
step by step -- we can't make people accept things by force," she said. "When they will
see that in one province women make good achievements, slowly the situation will
change in other provinces."
Most observers believe the future of women's rights in Afghanistan depends very much
on improved security.
USAID Teaches Women in Mazar-e-Sharif Improved Methods of Spinning Wool
On September 30, 2010, Provincial government officials, US Government representatives

and representatives from several government and nongovernmental entities joined 100
women trainees in Mazar-e-Sharif city to celebrate the successful completion of wool
spinning project.
The six-month-long training that started in March this year, was delivered by Rabia
Maryam Handicrafts Company (RHMC) in Mazar-e-Sharif city, under the USAID funded
IDEA-NEW program.
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The project helped widows, refugees, internally displaced persons, and underprivileged
women from Mazar-e-Sharif learn how to wash, prepare and spin wool into yarn using
spinning wheels and to market their products.
Spinning wool with a drop-spindle is a traditional activity in northern Afghanistan. The
yarn is used for weaving gilims and as the warp for knotted carpets. The classic method
with the drop-spindle produces low quality yarn, an uneven thickness and the production
is very low. The new method of producing yarn with spinning wheels increases the daily
production rate from .1/2 kg to 2.5 kg and produces a higher quality yarn that attracts a
higher price, enabling women to increase their daily earnings from 25 AFN to 150 AFN
per person.
Provincial government authorities visited the project several times and the Provincial
Director of Economy, Haji Abdul Rahman, commended the initiative for making women
economically self reliant, calling it one of the most useful projects for women in the
province.
In addition to the training, the project also provides women with a start-up kit that
includes one spinning wheel worth USD 50, 20kg of wool, a comb, scissors and a plastic
basket.
I am a widow looking after three children and have learned how to process wool into
yarn by using the new method of spinning wheel that I learned from this project. So far I
have found it quite an efficient method of producing yarn. Previously, I didnt have any
skill so I could not generate any significant amount of income, but with the help of this
project, I have learned how to produce yarn and make good money for my children,
said Laila one of the trainees and residents of Mazar-e-Sharif city.
Camp Marmal hosts first Afghan Womens Arts & Crafts Exhibition
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German Soldiers take a look at the goods offered at the Afghan Women's Handcraft
Exhibition in the atrium at Camp Marmal, near Mazar-e Sharif, Afghanistan. The market
opportunity was made to be exclusive to female vendors in partnership with the German
Development Cooperation known as the GIZ.
CAMP MARMAL, Afghanistan:
If the Afghan economy is to grow and prosper in the future, it will need all its adult
citizens to participate. Afghan female entrepreneurs were provided an opportunity to
exhibit and sell their handmade crafts at Camp Marmals Planet Mazar, Dec. 3-4. Ten
women from the Mazar-e Sharif area showcased products such as jewelry, scarves,
clothing, embroidery, and other colorful items.
The rise in demand for Afghan crafts has positioned women at the front of the supply
chain because they have traditionally been involved in production. More and more
women, however, are attempting to take the next step as vendors. Cultural restrictions
deeply rooted in Afghan society have long been a barrier. For women, the opportunity to
sell their products is few and far between. However, this may be slowly changing. An
increase in the demand for production has resulted in more Afghan women wanting to
sell their own merchandise. The first step for some women has been to sell their products
at female markets.
Afghan women are used to being engaged as producers and working in their households,
but its always been a problem getting access to markets. Now, there are more producers
and more women want to access markets. There are more and more female markets. This
is something new and developing, said Dr. Monika Lanik, foreign area specialist at
International Security Assistance Force Regional Command North. Lanik serves as a
cultural advisor to RC North Commander, Maj. Gen. Markus Kneip.
A cooperative effort between Lanik and Liane Hryca of the German-based Sustainable
Economic Development Program brought the arts and crafts exhibition to Camp Marmal.
I have worked with Dr. Lanik before and we both knew this was a good opportunity, so
we decided to try it. It is not so common to have civilian and military cooperation. If it
works well, we will do it again, said Hryca, the area Project Advisor for SEDP, which
assists the Afghan government improve the economic framework of the country.
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RC-North Commander Maj. Gen. Markus Kneip, along with fellow patrons take a look at
the goods offered at the Afghan Women's Handcraft Exhibition in the atrium at Camp
Marmal, near Mazar-e Sharif, Afghanistan.
As the only vendor at the Planet Mazar exhibition with her own shop, Zainab Sulaiman
Zada is an exception. Zada, a vendor specializing in jewelry, is very appreciative of the
opportunity to sell her products and would like to return on a regular basis to Camp
Marmal.
Im very happy with the results. I am a widow and need to support my family of five
sons and three daughters. I would love to come every month, said Zada, who heads the
Balkh Dawlatabad Jewelry Making Association.
While progress may be slow, Maryam Mohammedi, the project manager for SEDP,
believes that cultural barriers are gradually breaking down.
A few years ago, it was strange to see women in Afghanistan as businesswomen. It was
difficult for men and women to talk to each other in a market. Many women are still
scared from a cultural point of view. Some women prefer markets just for women, but
things are changing. People are getting more and more used to it, said Mohammedi.
Part of SEDPs goal is to provide training for women so that their production efforts
match the market. According to Mohammedi, most women work long hours for many
days to produce goods with a value they set too high. Afghan women have to be trained
to make items that the local economy can support.
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German Capt. Jennifer Ruge looks at the goods offered at the Afghan Women's Handcraft
Exhibition in the atrium at Camp Marmal, near Mazar-e Sharif, Afghanistan.
Before many women were trying to sell their products at an expensive price because of a
great deal of work. But they were having trouble finding what they considered the right
market value for their products. We helped to change their ideas about what things they
could make and what people can afford. SEDP has also helped them to access more
markets, said Mohammedi.
Mohammedi believes that the arts and crafts exhibition at Camp Marmal is a good
example of the opportunities that Afghan women need.
We are half of the society. Each country that has a strong economy involves women. For
sure it is good for the Afghan economy. Having this exhibition here at Camp Marmal was
a great idea, said Mohammedi.
Building bridges, roads, pipelines, schools, and other types of infrastructure is important
to the development of an economy. But Afghanistan gives itself the best chance to sustain
their economy when more than half of its human capital is able to contribute.
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4.Companies marketing their product to Afghan women

Roshan Telecom
Women & Mobile: A Global Opportunity
A study on the mobile phone gender gap in low and middle-income countries
Introduction
Roshan, which means light in Dari and Pashto, is Afghanistans largest mobile network
operator. With the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development as a majority shareholder,
the company matches its financial objectives with a strong commitment to the
development of the country.
In 2006, Roshan, the leading mobile operator in Afghanistan formed a partnership with
Vodafone Global Services to offer a mobile money transfer service in Afghanistan. The
companies agreed to engage in a profit share model for the provision of service and
would use Vodafones award winning platform that was built for the launch of the
successful M-PESA service by Safaricom in Kenya in 2007. In Afghanistan, the product
was locally renamed as M-Paisa where M stands for mobile and Paisa denotes cash
in the local languages, Dari and Pashto. In order to mitigate risk in this new line of
business for Roshan and Vodafone, the companies jointly registered a holding company
known as Mobile Service Development Afghanistan and this holding company acts as a
trustee of the funds held in the M-Paisa system.
Roshan provides coverage in over 230 major cities and is present in all 34 provinces of
the country. The company currently serves over 3.5 million subscribers. Since its
inception January 2003, Roshan has invested up to $390.4 million in implementing and
maintaining a high quality network making it the countrys single largest investor and tax
payer with a contribution of approximately 6% of the Afghan Governments overall
domestic revenue. Roshan is backed by an international consortium of investors, led by
the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED) at 51%, Monaco Telecom
International (MTI) at 36.75% and Swedish-Finnish TeliaSonera at 12.25%.
Mobile Phone Penetration is medium mobile phone penetration in Afghanistan is
approximately 55% as of the end of 2009 with over 16 million subscribers. The mobile
industry is highly competitive with 4 GSM operators and 2 CDMA networks.
Literacy Levels is low the literacy rate in Afghanistan is only 28.1% for the general
population. Literacy amongst men is significantly higher (42.1%) than amongst women
(12.6%)
Target segmentation-
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Afghan mobile operator Roshan launches a series of culturally-appropriate

promotions for women that emphasize family and security
Boosting mobile phone use among women is not only seen as a revenue opportunity, as
no other operator in Afghanistan was targeting the womens market, but also provides an
opportunity to benefit one of the countrys most marginalised segments.
Prevailing cultural attitudes in Afghanistan impose very traditional roles on men and
women. Society is family-oriented, with men controlling most of the familys assets and\
spending decisions; women occupy the traditional role of sister, wife and mother.
Company research indicated that for men, the primary reason for a woman to have a
mobile phone would be to provide a connection between herself and her family, or in
some cases, her workplace. Use outside this circle is often viewed with suspicion.
Working within these cultural expectations, Roshan launched the Aali for Mother
Campaign in April 2009. The promotion was based on SIM Aali, their flagship mass
market tariff plan, but offered a Family and Friends option at reduced rates with a focus
on women while accenting the themes of motherhood and family.
Marketing messages were targeted at both men and women, and as shown in the advert
emphasised the mobile phones role in enabling women to attend to family
responsibilities. Advertisements showed depictions of women in traditional gender roles,
like singing a lullaby to her child, and positioned men as the gift bearer.
Since the launch, the percentage of women among new Roshan subscribers has continued
to grow to approximately 18% today. It is estimated that Roshan has the highest number
of female subscribers in Afghanistan. The campaign has also further established Roshan
as a trusted brand. Through its commercial and corporate social responsibility efforts, the
company continues to promote the economic empowerment of women in Afghan society
through a variety of initiatives including the Womens Public Calls Offices project.
Roshan has stayed within cultural boundaries even while expressing and showing themes
of modernity and progress. And with the success of Aali for Mother, Roshan is looking at
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providing more products and promotions tailored to women, built around the Family and
Friends offering.
Roz Magazines
Background
The Afghan media has made considerable progress since the downfall of the Taliban. The
magazine, ROZfounded in 2002, is one of the first magazines in the country to have
been created by Afghan women for Afghan women.
Since its foundation, it has actively sought to provide Afghan women with information on
all aspects of their daily lives, while affording them a long-denied opportunity for access
to culture.
Description of the Target Groups
ROZ's staff is composed of 15 women and 5 men. Through collaboration with the School
of Journalism, the magazine could become a venue for interaction with and the training
of students.
ROZ's readership includes both educated and unschooled Afghan women. The magazine's
staff continues to pursue its efforts to reach rural zones where access to information and
culture is still difficult.
Project
Roz magazine is a monthly magazine intended for Afghan women and written by Afghan
women. The magazine has a circulation of approx. 5000 copies and is sold all over the
country. Its staff is comprised of 16 permanent employees (among which 13 journalists)
and 5 freelance journalists. This project aimed at supporting and improving the quality of
each monthly edition of Roz magazine. It was also intended to develop its marketing and
advertisement to increase its financial autonomy and ensure its long-term viability.
Implementations and Results
In order to improve the magazines distribution, which is dealt with by Nay-Kleed, the
only distribution body in the country, Afghanistan Libre hired and trained one person to
be in charge of distribution. He traveled to all the sale spots of Roz in 14 provinces and
was thus able to create direct contacts with local retailers. Roz magazine thereby acquired
greater control over part of the distribution managed, not always very satisfactorily, by
Nay-Kleed were women are targeted so that they will buy the magazine. If security
conditions allow, these contacts should expand even further in the near future. Roz
magazine faces competition from other women magazines, such as the free magazine
Morsal launched by Nay-Kleed, Saba and other sporadic initiatives.
The higher of a person dealing with distribution and marketing made it possible for Roz
to attract some clients interested in advertising in the paper but at low prices. Advertising
is limited because only a few companies in Afghanistan can afford it. Moreover,
businesses are generally more interested in advertising through radio and TV, which offer
for affordable prices and which can reach most part of the population as they are not
affected by the issue of illiteracy. The topics dealt with by Roz magazine, such as
violence against women and the economic difficulties they have to face daily in all the
activity sectors and in all the different provinces, have been much appreciated.
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Roz magazine has attracted the attention of women in the Afghan Diaspora in Canada,
the US, Europe and even India. They have been many to contact Afghanistan Libre to ask
to subscribe to ROZ. However, Afghanistan Libre has so far not been able to respond to
these requests for lack of logistical means (the mail service in Afghanistan is not safe
enough and the cost is too high). For now, its priority is to meet the increasing demand of
subscription in the country and especially in Kabul. However, the creation of a website
for Roz is planned even if it will imply additional costs for its creation and daily
updating.
The project has successfully ended.
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China Threatens Afghanistan's Burqa Market
China has entered the business of producing and selling burqas-- and Afghani women are
responding to the "modern" designs. With the resurgence of the Taliban and violence,
many women are choosing (or being forced to) cover up. The result is that China's new
industry is driving out the traditional Afghani burqa industry.
The bright blue veil of the burqa is one of the most iconic and widely worn pieces of
womens clothing in Afghanistan. Since the fall of the Taliban, fewer women wear the
burqa in Kabul, but elsewhere, in the provinces, the burqa is as ubiquitous as ever.
While they evoke a reaction of horror and disdain from many Western women, the burqa
in Afghanistan is a complex cultural signifier. Young married women wear light blue
burqas; older women and widows wear a darker blue. White burqas signify new brides, or
women from the northern city of Mazar-e Sharif. The particular pattern of flowers around
the cap and face cover showcase the work of different designers, allowing women to be
told apart.
The Zamarai family, shown in the video, has been tailors and burqa-makers for three
generations. But recently theres a new player in the Kabul burqa market: China, which
mass-produces a style of burqa that many women here find more fashionable than the
Zamarais traditional hand-assembled garments.
The Chinese-made burqas tightly-crimped folds and machine-produced embroidery have
become something of a fashion craze in the last few months in Kabul. As one burqa seller
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named Hassan explained to me in a crowded Kabul market, Women love the new,
modern style of the Chinese burqas.
Hassan said he was selling more burqas than ever in recent years, as the trickle down of
reconstruction money from foreign aid organizations empowers women to buy several
veils, in different styles. More and more women are choosing to veil, said Hassan. Of
course, he clearly has a vested interest in projecting a good image for burqas. To my
mind, the slowly escalating war and the resurrection of the Taliban probably have more to
do with increased burqa consumption.
But although its a good time to be a burqa retailer or a Chinese burqa manufacturer
the Afghan tailors who produce the veils are facing a tighter market. As you will see in
this video, burqa production is very much a cottage industry in Afghanistan. Whole
families are dedicated to stitching flowers on caps, or crimping the folds in the long
flowing cloak, for which they are paid only a few dollars per piece. The Zamarai family,
featured in this video, sews together the various different parts of the burqa. The finished
piece sells in Hassans market for US$20, of which the Zamarais make about 20 cents.
Winter is traditionally a difficult time for manual workers in Afghanistan: little gets done,
meaning that workers have to borrow heavily from those who control the markets.
Relatively few burqas are sold in Kabul, as women from the outlying district find it
difficult to travel into the snow-bound city. Ali Ahmad, the 48-year-old Zamarai
patriarch, has already had to borrow 25,000 Afghanis from Hassan, the burqa seller.
Thats $500 dollars, or almost half of what he can expect to make during the summer
season, when the family will produce 50 burqas a day for a daily profit of about US$10.
Heavily debt-laden, the family recently had to move out of their house in a nice Kabul
suburb to rent in a cheap neighborhood. Ali Ahmad, a skilled tailor who had to give up
his shop because of poor eyesight, will probably have to take day laboring jobs to pay the
rent.
Since Chinas entrance into the burqa market, Ali Ahmad speculates that 300 families
have lost their jobs. The Chinese have special machines that produce the entire burqa in
a few minutes, said Ali Ahmad, We cant compete with that. The sewing machines his
family uses are all hand-operated, although theyre cheap to buy at $100 dollars per
machine. The Chinese sewing machines cost $4000. No one can afford to buy that sort
of machine in Afghanistan, said Ali Ahmad. Soon all our burqas will be made in
China, he says.
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Hurdles for Companies to sell and market their products

Cosmetic Companies
A woman at every point of times wants to be beautiful. It is not only about the outer
beauty but also about the inner beauty. Cosmetics companies like Lakme, LOreal,
Revlon, Oriflamme etc. are some of the companies targeting women all around the by
showcasing them as the most beautiful women who are confident even to present
themselves in front of the world by giving final touch to the beauty to the women which
is flawless. But the picture is not as simple as it seems in Afghanistan where a womans
living there are in such a bad situation that they are tortured so that they respect their
husband and her in-laws. If it is not done then violence takes birth against women which
is very abusive and life threatening.
Life of women in Afghanistan is always in danger where they are not allowed to work
outside their home, not to talk to other man and yes no make up for them. If women do
get engaged in making just for looking beautiful then the question arises from man side
that it is for attracting men and it particularly happens among married couples.
Therefore doing business in Afghanistan is not easy. There are cosmetic available in
Afghanistan but it is local which delivers poor quality and leads to skin problems.
Cosmetic company needs to develop a proper strategy t capture women market their
without any problem faced by women.
Market communication strategy to be implemented by:
Communicating women by saying beauty for her men:
Here cosmetic company should develop a strategy in which they will target women
by saying that for a married women make-up is to attract their husbands not other
men and for a single women is to look beautiful so that she will be liked and loved
by the men who comes to see her so as to get married .
Communicating by targeting women to be confident:
Cosmetic company should plan its marketing strategy by saying that you are already
beautiful but by using their product you will be confident enough to face the world
especially for a woman who works to earn.
Mobile Operators
Today mobile phones have become an important tool in every ones life. It has become
a communication tool where information can be transferred easily. Every one is
hooked up with mobile phone in Afghanistan very less women uses mobile phones.
These women are well educated and are running business where they need mobile
phone but the uneducated and who are not allowed to work out especially in rural
area are not allowed to use because their husband and even their own father and
brothers think that she is will be chit chatting with other guy which they find it
intolerable.
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Market communication strategies to be implemented by:

Communicating to those women who cares for her family:
Mobile phone operator should develop a marketing strategy where they target
women by saying that mobile phones helps in connecting their family members with
each other who love them and wants always to be with them. The product should
communicate in such a that the campaign of connecting with their love ones should
attract first men who will understand the needs of mobile phone which will there
with them both at happy and during uncertain event and themselves will buy for
their wife, mother, daughter, sister.
E.g.: Roshan launched the Aali for Mother Campaign in April 2009.
Communicating women who works outside their home:
The mobile phone operator should communicate to those women who works out and
wants every information by making a software which help them in getting all
information about trends, demand, new technology, government policy, competitors
etc.
E.g.: Women facing problems while using mobile phone
Mobiles are widely used gadget all over the world among women but its not same in the
case of women living in Afghanistan. The situation over there is miserable because the
culture and the male dominant do not let them free even for good cause.
For e.g.: Maryams husband was so outraged when he discovered the device she had
smuggled into their Kabul home that he beat her with his fists and a whip. The
contraband was a cell phone.
My husbands family is very traditional, says Maryam, a 24-year-old sheathed in a blue
burqa who declines to give her last name. They are very much against mobile phones
and freedom for women.
Efforts taken by various companies for helping women

The connection Maryam sees between women and wireless is apparent to the worlds
biggest telecommunications companies, which have begun a push to bring female
customers in the developing world to the same level as men. The U.S. and Australian
agencies for international development are backing the effort by Vodafone Group Plc
(VOD), France Telecom SA (FTE) and others with $1 million to fund research into how
to find and keep women like Maryam, and to persuade men that handsets arent a threat.
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For women in emerging markets, cell phones can be life changing, offering banking
services to free them from the dangers of carrying cash, texting when the communal
water tap will open or sending instructions in prenatal care.
For the wireless industry, signing up 600 million female subscribers in the developing
world by 2014 could be a revenue bonanza of $29 billion a year, according to the
London-based GSMA, formed in 1982 as the Groupe Speciale Mobile to design a panEuropean mobile technology.
We are not ashamed to say that this will benefit business too, says Trina DasGupta,
director of the GSMAs MWomen program, whose members include AT&T Inc. in the
U.S. and Bharti Airtel Ltd. (BHARTI) in India.
Morten Singleton, a telecommunications analyst at Investec Securities in London, says
theres clearly an opportunity in women in poorer markets. Theyre in an underserved
territory, he says, and the fact theyre not necessarily high-spending doesnt mean you
cant make money.
Gift Bearers
The GSMA estimates that 38 percent of women, compared with 48 percent of men, have
cell phones in the 149 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and
Eastern Europe that MWomen is targeting. A woman in those countries is 21 percent less
likely than a man to have a handset, according to a February 2010 report by the GSMA
and the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women.
In what the report called gender gap hot spots, the disparity is greater, and the widest is
in South Asia, which includes Afghanistan, India and Nepal. There, a woman is 37
percent less likely to be a wireless customer, the report said, and closing that gap would
generate close to $4 billion in revenue for telecommunications companies.
Red Suitcases
The U.S. is helping fund MWomen to bring womens handset use on par with mens and
change the all-too-common belief that cell phones afford more freedom to women than
they deserve, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said at an Oct. 7 press conference.
Companies have made inroads. Afghanistans biggest wireless provider, Telecom
Development Company Afghanistan Ltd., started a campaign called Aali for Mother (Aali
means the best) with ads portraying men as gift bearers and the phones as tools that
benefit the family. After the ads appeared, women grew to 23 percent from 18 percent of
all new customers, according to the company, which operates under the name Roshan.
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In Qatar, where its often taboo for females to interact with strangers of the opposite sex,
Vodafone created Al Johara so women could sign up for service without having to enter
stores. Its an all-female sales force that does business in living rooms and kitchens,
carrying paperwork in red suitcases.
No Hijacking
Women using wireless phones arent viewed with as much suspicion in Kenya. Still, just
34 percent of women have handsets, versus 44 percent of men, according to the GSMA.
A cell phones importance cant be overstated, says Salome Mukuhi Kamau, who sells
mangos, papaya and peppers along a road near Nairobi. She says the device may have
saved her life.
When she carried cash, she was robbed three times by thieves who threatened her with
knives and guns. Now she deposits daily earnings with an agent from Nairobi-based
Safaricom Ltd. (SAFCOM)s M-Pesa mobile money system, who works out of a shack
across the street from her stand. When she has to stock up on goods, she takes the bus to
the main market about three miles away, and gets the funds she needs from an M-Pesa
agent there.
I store the money here and then withdraw it when I want, Salome, a single mother of
two, says of her cell phone as Swahili gospel music swirls around her wooden stand.
There is no fear that I will be hijacked.
Losing Control
Women can pay utility bills and school fees through M-Pesa and transfer money to
distant family members. In Nairobi, the Freedom from Fistula Foundation, started by Ann
Gloag, co- founder of the Perth, Scotland-based bus company Stagecoach Group Plc,
uses the service to provide free treatment at Jamaa Mission Hospital; it transfers travel
money via M-Pesa to women who need operations to repair injuries caused during
childbirth.
In 2008, Roshan, controlled by the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development, started
M-Paisa, based on Vodafone technology. While women are eager to use it, the company
has to find a way around mens apprehension, says Aleeda Fazal, a mobile money
specialist who helped establish M-Pesa and M-Paisa.
In the Afghan womans mind, mobile phone technology helps her to keep in touch with
friends and can help her be entrepreneurial, Fazal says. In the Afghan mans mind, the
technology means he loses control of the woman. She says Afghan women would tell
men they werent interested in M-Paisa, because thats what they thought men wanted
them to say. The story I would get from the women was completely different, she says.
They were often saying, Please, find a way to help us be a part of this.
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Mapping Harassment
The industrys focus on women comes with an explosion in applications, spurred in part
by a competition MWomen held this year for the best apps for women. One of the
winners of a $10,000 prize was NextDrop, a text message system in India that sends
alerts when engineers have turned on the communal taps that millions in the country rely
on for water.
Created by students from Stanford Business School and the University of California, it
saves vital time for the poor, says Anu Sridharan, chief executive officer of Hubli, Indiabased NextDrop. Women bear the brunt of the water carrying and waiting around, she
says.
In Cairo, volunteers started HarassMap to collect text and Twitter messages from women
to plot sexual harassment -- from catcalls and ogling to rape -- on an online map of the
city. Mamakiba is an app designed to help low-income women in Kenya save and pay for
prenatal care and childbirth.
Cloud Phone
Su Kahumbu of Kenyas organic produce company Green Dreams Ltd. created iCow for
dairy farmers, many of whom are women who tend small herds that are key sources of
family income. A record keeper and a calendar that tracks an animals fertility cycle,
iCow won a U.S. State Department competition last year for the most innovative cell
phone application in Africa.
The so-called cloud phone from London-based Movirtu Ltd., aimed at people who live on
$2 or less a day, gives a subscriber a unique mobile number that can be used on any
handset, eliminating the need for the purchase of a SIM card or personal device. Bharti
Airtels Madagascar unit sells the service, and the U.K.s Royal College of Obstetricians
and Gynecologists is working with media company Cerescom Ltd. to use Movirtus
technology in its programs for expectant mothers in Africa.
Nine out of 10 women in emerging markets feel safer having a cell phone, a survey last
year by Blairs foundation and the GSMA found, and 41 percent of women said the
devices had helped boost incomes.
Fastest Growing
Putting a mobile phone in the hands of women is critical for the development of
Afghanistan, says Roshan CEO Karim Khoja. We see the mobile phone as much more
than a communication device.
Khoja says a provincial government official thanked him for making him a grandfather,
because when his daughter had complications in childbirth, the midwife used her mobile
to call a doctor, saving the mother and child.
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Wireless technology isnt new to developing countries. Afghanistan, where under Taliban
rule cell phones were all but nonexistent, is one of the worlds fastest growing wireless
markets, according to Roshan. The Afghan company had 400,000 customers in 2005 and
today has more than 5 million, with a network of towers that covers 60 percent of the
population.
Whether the industry and MWomen can overcome mens fears in such countries is the
question, says Thomas Molony, a lecturer in African studies at the University of
Edinburgh who has researched cell phone use in Africa.
Forward Looking
Even the relatively low cost of small segments of airtime can be prohibitive in situations
where the man in a household controls access to cash, he says. There are ways around
this, such as sending airtime to the handset that the woman uses but this also presupposes
that the woman controls the use of the handset.
With MWomen, the GSMA can harness the ideas of its members and the non-profits that
participate, says Lee Epting, the content services director for London-based Vodafone.
They include Blairs group and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
It will take more than a single technology provider to close the gender gap, Epting
says. Often a phone is seen as a tool for freedom, and men in some cultures might not
want women to have that freedom. You need a forward looking man to help make those
changes happen.
Maryam, who has a 1-year-old son, says the man she married two years ago isnt one of
them. The handset that aroused his anger was a gift from her brother, she says, and
without it she cant easily communicate with her siblings and parents, who live north of
Kabul.
For women, using a cell phone in Afghanistan is quite difficult, she says. She wont try
it again, she says. My husband said he would divorce me.
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Indian Daily Soap Operas

Indian soap operas, with their tales of family drama and trysts among the rich and
beautiful, have transfixed Afghans brought up on turgid state broadcasts and under a
Taliban prohibition on television.
But not everyone is a fan.
Conservative Muslim clerics and some politicians are outraged by the soap operas aired
hour after hour by more than a dozen private television stations that have sprung up since
the Taliban were ousted in 2001.
Branding the programs immoral and against Islamic culture, the critics have started a
campaign to press the private channels to pull the plug on the soaps.
At Friday prayers at Kabul's largest mosque, Enayatullah Balegh, an influential cleric and
university teacher, said that he and his followers were adamant.
"We are 6,000 people in this mosque," he said in front of his congregation, and his
intention "is to go and blow up all the TV antennas if they do not stop it."
The congregation chanted in response: "God is greatest, we are ready."
The clerics' campaign gained traction this month when some members of Parliament,
supported by the Ministry of Information and Culture, issued a declaration to private TV
channels to stop broadcasting five Indian soaps.
But the television stations appear defiant.
"It is against the media law," Masoud Qiam, a senior presenter for Tolo TV, said in an
interview, referring to the declaration. "We will not stop the airing of the soap operas."
Tolo is Afghanistan's most popular TV channel, broadcasting a mix of news and
entertainment. It has had several brushes with conservatives over its fare.
"We don't consider any of the programs against our culture. These are the most-watched
programs that people like," Qiam said.
Conservatives object to the Indian soaps because they show men and women together,
women dressed "immodestly" and the worship of Hindu idols.
The channels have made concessions, cutting scenes of Hindu worship and blurring areas
of bare flesh. But that hasn't appeased the critics.
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"These programs have changed the behavior of our women and children; we don't want
them," said Gullab Khan, who was attending Balegh's Friday prayers. "All Muslims
know that these things are not allowed in Islam."
Afghan law forbids publication of material "contrary to the principles of Islam."
Problems arise in the interpretation of the law.
Despite a wave of unprecedented freedom since the overthrow of the puritanical Taliban,
Afghanistan remains a deeply conservative Islamic society.
But more and more Afghans are returning from exile, bringing back new ideas. A large
youthful population, particularly in the cities, is eager for new ways.
Afghanistan has its own pop stars who sing ballads and folk songs, and even a rap star.
The Afghan version of the American Idol talent show, put out by Tolo, was a sensation
but it also raised criticism, especially when a woman finished in third place.
President Hamid Karzai, who has a reputation as a liberal but has been under pressure
from conservative forces over several issues including television, has stepped gingerly
into the fray.
Trying to keep both sides happy in the run-up to a presidential election he is expected to
contest next year, Karzai has insisted that media freedom will be upheld but added that
unsuitable material should not be broadcast.
"There will never be interference with media freedom but media freedom should be
compatible with the culture of the Afghan people," Karzai said at a recent news
conference.
"We wish television to stop them," he said, referring to programs "in contradiction with
daily life."
Most viewers don't see any contradiction.
"I like Tulsi a lot, my children like her a lot," said Dell Jan, a mother of six, referring to
the main character in one of the most popular Indian soaps. It is broadcast by Tolo and it
is one of five shows the conservatives want taken off the air.
"When the serial starts on TV, we stop all work, even eating, and watch it," she said. "We
love it it's entertainment for the children."
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4.Inspiring stories of Afghan women

A) Doing Business in Afghanistan
Rangina Hamidi's Kandahar Treasure helps Afghan women sell embroidered goods in a
war-torn country where security is a constant concern
The Entrepreneur: Rangina Hamidi, 32
Background:
Hamidi was born in Kandahar, Afghanistan, three years before the Soviet invasion.
Following the invasion, her family fled to Pakistan and lived there as refugees for seven
years. During that time, Hamidi and her sister were forced to stop studying by the
predecessors of the Taliban, who threatened to burn the girls' faces with acid if they
continued going to school. In 1988, Hamidi's family moved once again, this time to
Arlington, Va. There, Hamidi graduated from high school with top honors and went on to
earn a double major in women's studies and religious studies from the University of
Virginia. In 2003, she returned to Afghanistan to establish entrepreneurial ventures for
women.
The Company: With a $55,000 seed grant provided by the U.S. Agency For International
Development to the nonprofit organization Afghans for Civil Society, Hamidi launched
Kandahar Treasure as a nonprofit, with the goal of helping women artisans sell their
embroidered goods. The business now employs 450 people and sells in Afghanistan,
Canada, and the U.S. Hamidi is in the process of transforming it into a for profit-venture.
Her Story:
When the world's attention turned towards Afghanistan in late 2001, I knew that I needed
to return to help with the reconstruction of my motherland. I arrived in Afghanistan in
2003, a young, inexperienced idealist in the world of development with dreams of
creating big changes. Very quickly, however, I learned that "fixing" Afghanistan was a
bigger task than I had imagined and it was going to take many people, many years, and
many resources to even begin the process of reconstruction.
I started Kandahar Treasure as a way to create an economic base for the province while
supporting the advancement of women in the country. A goal of this venture is to make
sure that women do not get left behind again. Women have sacrificed a lot for this nation
and continue to do so even now as many of my country's corrupt leaders continue to fight
for power.
We started by giving about 20 women artisans raw materials that they could spin into a
very fine form of hand embroidery on pillows, tablecloths, and clothing. Our nonprofit
funder Afghans for Civil Society would then seek markets for the goods, paying the
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women more than the local market value. Additional sales revenue was used to increase
the number of participants.
Surrounded by Suicide Bombs
It is not a clich to say that trying to do business in a war-torn country is challenging. The
most obvious challenge is security. We are operating in the midst of suicide bombs, open
fighting, and NATO-led International Security Assistance Force fighting with local
insurgents. We must encourage ourselves to work as if things are normal around us.
Because if we think about the realities, we might as well shut down our business and stay
home.
Then there are the practical, day-to-day challenges of doing business in Afghanistan. I
can't depend on a regular postal system, electricity, and mechanics who can fix things
things I used to take for granted in the U.S. For example, we had a small technical error
in our office Internet dish. I estimated it needed only about 30 minutes to fix. However,
because of the lack of skilled personnel here, the problem lasted more than a month!
Similarly, the pace of work here is much slower than probably anywhere else in the
world, making it hard to compete in the global markets.
Beyond those challenges, I've also learned there are many issues in the world of aid
organizations and nonprofits. The aid world has its own rules and regulations of working
within their system. If a program or project does not fit the criteria prescribed by the
donor agency, benefiting from these aid programs becomes an impossible task. Donors'
strict boundaries leave no room for creativity and unique methodologies to be
experimented with by small organizations. A lot of times, the aid community's restrictions
leave a lot of projects without the ability to gain sustainability.
Women Tailors Can't Compete
For instance, since the time of the Taliban, many aid organizations have given lots of
funding to local organizations to train women how to become tailors. The funny thing is
that we have yet to find a high-quality professional female tailor in town after being
trained for almost 10 years now! If you estimate the amount of resources wasted for this
particular training program, it is a shame that there is no final positive result in the end.
But the value of the training is low; women who received it couldn't begin to compete
with the male tailors.
I worked hard to understand the rules of the aid community, and I was successful among
my peers in the five years that I have worked in Kandahar. However, I decided that the
only way I can really help this community is through transforming the nonprofit work to
a profitable company. That's because I believe in the idea that entrepreneurship can
transform lives and help begin the process of rebuilding societies. I've already witnessed
the impact. Women who work at Kandahar Treasure and other organizations are starting
to be viewed as economic contributors. That increases their value in the household and in
a society that has long devalued women.
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We need the kind of aid programs and resources that can be used as a platform to create
self-sustaining businesses. The three decades of war and destruction have created a nation
of beggars. By focusing on private businesses and enhancing opportunities for ordinary
Afghans to fill their days, we will not only help Afghanistan with building its economy,
but also help Afghans find jobs so that they can depend on a peaceful and just way of
making money for themselves and their families.
Business Training at Thunderbird
I was lucky to receive practical training through two great American-based programs
aimed specifically at Afghan women. I learned the basic principles of business during a
three-week program at Thunderbird University in Arizona. I experienced firsthand what
is involved in doing business in the fashion industry as well as learning what it takes to
import and export products through a project in New York (BusinessWeek.com, 6/7/05)
sponsored by the Business Council for Peace.
I consider myself very lucky and capable of doing anything I want in the world today.
With my education, experience, and language abilities, the opportunities are many for me.
I have, however, chosen to continue my struggle with the women in Kandahar because
this work gives me the most challenges and rewards. Living and working in the midst of
a very destructive war is no easy job. However, I see hope when I see how the simple
women have been able to transform their lifestyles with the little money that they earn
through our business.
Success Speaks
Setting up a business is tough enough in the UK but for would-be female entrepreneurs
running a thriving business in Afghanistan is a different challenge altogether.
Hassina Sherjan is one of Afghanistan's female entrepreneurs

Businesswoman Hassina Sherjan left Afghanistan in 1978 when she was 19, moving to
America where she ran a children's clothing business.
But when the Taliban regime fell in 2001, she returned to Kabul to start a new business
that she hoped would improve the lives of women in the country.
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Three years later Boumi, her successful home interiors company, was born. It is thriving
and Sherjan is now looking for distributors in countries outside Afghanistan.
News stories coming out of Afghan depict a deteriorating situation for women: a law that
effectively allows a husband to starve his wife if she doesn't have sex with him, and an
acid attack on school girls are two examples.
But there are a number of Afghan businesswomen, like Sherjan, who have set up
profitable businesses and are getting on with making money in one of the most
conservative and women-hostile environments that exist.
Hassina Sherjan, 49, the glamorous president of Boumi, a manufacturer of decorative
products for the home, sees it slightly differently: 'I look at it as a privilege to be a
woman in Afghanistan rather than the victim. When I go to an office to get something
done, the office is full of men. As soon as I walk in they say 'Oh, there's a lady here so
make way for her.' And they take me first. It doesn't mean they have more respect for
women but only means that they feel you are weak which is OK. I don't care if I get done
what I get done.'
Sherjan is no pushover. In 1999, when the Taliban were at the height of their power she
returned to Afghanistan for the first time in 21 years and met with various Taliban
ministers.
'The teachers were all in the streets begging,' she recalls. 'I met with some of the teachers
and chose a few that were most qualified and we established these underground home
schools for the girls.' A driving force for the women interviewed is not only making
money but being able to create jobs for the less well off.
Our businesses make a difference to someone's life
'It is much more rewarding working here then in the States,' says Sherjan, who ran a
children's clothing company in California. 'You can make a real difference in someone
else's life apart from just making money and that's when work becomes more interesting.'
Sherjan has become frustrated with how slow progress is. She believes now that the best
chance she has of helping her country is becoming part of the policy making process in as
an advisor outside the country. She will put a manager in charge of Boumi.
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B) A businesswoman from the Taliban's heartland

She's been rocketed by insurgents, kidnapped at gunpoint and had a hitman turn up on her
door step. But Afghan businesswoman, Masoda Younasy, 23, who, until recently,
operated out of Kandahar, the Taliban's heartland, refused to be intimidated into folding
up her construction company.
Younasy's story is extreme when compared with the more run-of-the-mill grievances such
as harassment, discrimination and cultural constraints. But she is an example of a new
breed of Afghan women which, against the odds, is resolutely getting on with making
money, creating jobs and helping reconstruct the country.
A hitman was hired to stop me doing business
Indeed, this is how Younasy, started out. She worked for international organisations for
six years, three of which were as project manager for a construction company.
After that company folded she decided to set up on her own much to the shame of her
uncle and other local men who she claims were behind the kidnapping and hitman
incidents. Mind you, her fondness for stiletto sandals in mid-winter, Barbie pink acrylic
nails and distain for cultural constraints probably didn't help.
(The hitman, it turned out, was in debt to Younasy's father for employing him years
earlier and confessed to her that he had been paid $500 to kill her. He left without
harming her, warning her to leave the country.) Younasy's first project and was a training
programme for women worth $2,000. Three years later she was winning road projects
worth $7m and a star of the business community at least as far as internationals were
concerned.
And while news reports from Afghanistan generally depict a deteriorating climate for
women, the women interviewed for this piece are optimistic that the situation is getting
better, at least in the world of business.
Story of Ruqia Balkhi who supported herself and her husband with the help of
Prophet Hood so as to run her business in Afghanistan
'I am running a construction company, I am visiting the sites and I am conducting the
meetings with the internationals,' says Ruqia Balkhi, 39, who founded Balkhi
Construction Company in 1992. 'It is a positive change.'
Balkhi, sitting in her office in a pretty salwar kameez with pearly pink polished toenails,
is undoubtedly the doyenne of Afghan businesswomen. Unlike many, she remained in
Afghanistan during the civil war and under the Taliban regime, shutting up shop between
1996 and 2001 when women were not allowed to work, go to school or leave the house
without being accompanied by a male blood relative. Since the fall of the regime, she
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hasn't looked back and her lack of English or limited experience of dealing with
internationals has not hindered her.
Indeed, after landing her first military contact, officers were so pleased with Balkhi's
work they kept her busy for the next four years. Crucial to her success is her education
she holds a degree in engineering from Balkh University and support from male relatives.
Unusually, Balkhi did not get married until she was 30 truly astonishing given that many
girls are married off in their teens. Time passed and I didn't think about getting married,
Balkhi explains. I didn't find anyone who I thought I should marry this guy. I wanted
someone who would support my career. Eventually she found a man who would do just
that. She married him and made him vice president of her company.
Husbands and careers usually don't mix. Four of the brightest final year girls at one
Kabul secondary school spoke about the studies they wanted to pursue in medicine,
journalism and law. Three of them were engaged and one was married. Their fiancs and
husband had agreed to let them attend university but the girls were less sure they would
be allowed to work once their studies were complete.
'In Afghanistan, there are a lot of women who are educated but unfortunately they are
sitting in their homes because the husbands do not allow them to work,' Balkhi says.
Afghan women, arguing for their right to work, invoke the Prophet Mohammed's first
wife, Khadijah.
She was a successful businesswomen and Mohammed was her employee. After his
Prophet Hood was confirmed, it was his wife who supported him financially while he
preached. For another set of Afghan women, those whose educations were interrupted by
war and the Taliban, gaining the requisite skills to start and run businesses is a major
hurdle. To address this, Goldman Sachs in early 2009 launched its 10,000 Women
programme in Afghanistan. The idea is to give 10,000 women globally business training
over the next five years.
Above and beyond the usual tailoring and handicrafts businesses, the first graduates
wanted to start or develop a crisps-making business, a maternity shop, a recycling plant
and an electrical engineering firm. The main barriers to prospering included getting
funding many women do not have any assets in their name and cannot get bank loans
and marketing, getting their companies known to customers.
However, it is perhaps the case that a business course is a little premature right now.
Entrepreneurs are, after all, born not created. And what can you really teach in four
weeks? Getting solid work experience may be a surer way to acquiring skills. Balkhi says
that it is recruitment programmes and graduate traineeships that are needed rather than
business courses. Of her 100 permanent staff, 25% are women.
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Balkhi agrees: I feel very proud because I am a woman and there are more than 100
people working with me. Everyone has a family of five to eight people and I feel good
when I think that it's all because of me that those guys are getting support for their
families. These women are the first to establish business after thirty years of war and the
Taliban. Elections are round the corner and every one is taking stock. Where from here?
Balkhi says she is in it for the long haul.
Landlady of the hardest pub in the world
Reporting crime to the police is futile, according to Hassina Syed, 30, whose Kabul bar
for expats has been dubbed 'The hardest pub in the world.' Women are often jailed while
the crime is investigated, she says. And male perpetrators need only pay a small bribe to
be let off.
The petite Syed, with her buttery highlights and Hello Kitty mobile phone, was invited by
Afghan President Hamid Karzai to represent Afghan businesswomen as part of a
delegation to the Paris Donors Conference in June 2008. She was the only woman on the
trip.
'It was not too professional,' she recalls. 'Everyone kept trying to touch me. All these
seven days I spent tying to fight them off.' On another business trip, Syed traveled with a
different group of men. The men thought a woman travelling outside Afghanistan
unescorted so ballsy that they suggested they should check whether she was a man or a
woman. Another gripe Syed has is about business groups. The male members frequently
'forget' to inform the few female members about meetings, conferences and other
networking activities.
As does Syed, who declines to hold a British passport and is constantly being asked what
she would do if the security situation should deteriorate dramatically. 'I will stay,' she
vows. 'If I can make money here in the good times, I will stay during the bad times. If
you like the rose, you have to accept the thorns also.'
C) Judge Mahfuza's Story
The war started in our county when I joined school. At that time, the security situation
was getting worse by the day. When I finished school, I could not continue my higher
education due to economic problems, and I started work with the Ministry of Higher
Education. Later on, I joined non-governmental organizations such as ASHINA (streets
children), as a teacher, and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Then, the Taliban captured our country. The girls schools were closed. Women and girls
were not allowed to leave their homes. Women had to wear burqas when they went out,
men were forced to have long beards and were sent to jail for not praying. They slashed
the women when they appeared in public, we were not allowed to use vehicles without
Mahram (man), nor did they allow private courses for women.
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They established a Ministry of Virtue to check on people in the cities who did not obey
their rules, they did not allow the people to watch TV or listen to the radio.Taking these
problems into consideration, a number of women did not want to be silent. We felt
responsibility and started to teach girls privately and confidentially in our homes so that
we could save the girls from illiteracy, despite the constraints and threats. Women were
only allowed to work in the health sector and womens bakeries, which were
implemented with the World Food Program as monitor and supervisor.
At that time, the computer was a new phenomenon in Afghanistan: 99 % of the people
had no idea about computers, but people were very interested to learn both computers and
English. At that time, I was the only woman that knew four computer programs, and so I
opened a private computer course for women. Some organizations were informed about
my activities they requested that I cooperate with them and teach computers to women. I
accepted. We started the program in one of the female hospital compounds (Rabia
Balkhi). Most of the students were doctors and nurses. The Taliban were informed about
our activity and tried to capture us. We were informed by one of the hospital workers and
escaped through the rear door of the hospital.
However, we were committed to our work and continued our activity in a different place.
Again Taliban were informed and consequently, we moved the course to my personal
residence. The Taliban chased us and entered my home to check whether we were
teaching or not. I pretended that we were a big family. We hid the computers or spilled
water on them to show they were not working. We were afraid. Students pretended that
they were family members and busied themselves with housework. At one point, the
Taliban put one of my students in jail for taking my course. Some of the women in my
courses were judges, lawyers and human rights workers and they are working for human
rights organizations today.
When the Taliban collapsed, I was able to continue my higher education in law school
and I worked part time with Afghan Women Judges Association. After graduation, I
worked with Global Rights, a human rights organization, and attended the Judiciary Stage
course, working as a judge in Kabul Primary courts. Besides that, I am now working as
Director of Justice For All, which was established by judges and lawyers with the
following objectives:
1. To strengthen the rule of law by ensuring that justice is upheld at all times.
2. To document the main sources of legal conflict in Afghanistan and propose legal
solutions that institutionalize public legal systems and promote the law as the principal
avenue for conflict resolution.
3. To provide free legal aid, legal advice and representation to those who need such
services, especially the indigent who are most often deprived of access to justice.
4. To increase public awareness of the law and especially on womens and childrens
rights.
5. To cooperate with the justice sector and other relevant agencies in the country to
promote justice and the rule of law in Afghan society.
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6.Case Study
AFGHANISTAN POULTRY
The Chemonics-implemented Rebuilding Agricultural Markets Program (RAMP) and
Accelerating Sustainable Agriculture Program (ASAP) aimed to develop a vibrant and
vertically integrated Afghani poultry sector that could replace imports, which made up
about 90 percent of the poultry products sold in urban markets. To take advantage of
consumer preferences toward local poultry and a high potential to compete against
imports in the local market, the programs trained 28,000 village women in improved
breed poultry production and established 5 provincial centers with feed mills and
refrigerated storage. The programs faced two critical challenges:
1) Connecting the village women producers to the urban market (because they do not
often leave their homes) and
2) Obtaining government registration for the women's associations that procured inputs
and marketed products, which would have enabled them to continue operating privately
after the withdrawal of donor funding.
The first obstacle was overcome through a network of horizontal and vertical linkages,
but the program did not succeed in overcoming the second obstacle. The women continue
to apply the training they learned in the project, but are now unable to buy the necessary
inputs, so unfortunately the gains they realized in the short term will not last.
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Biblography
http://www.acdivoca.org
http://www.marketplace.org
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[ WOMEN IN AFGHANISTAN AND MARKETING]

BACHELOR OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES

V.E.S. COLLEGE OF ARTS, SCIENCE & COMMERCE,

Shaikh Fidaus Mohd S. Roll No. 43

[ WOMEN IN AFGHANISTAN AND MARKETING]

Shaikh Fidaus Mohd S. Roll No. 43

[ WOMEN IN AFGHANISTAN AND MARKETING]

The information submitted is true & original to the

Shaikh Fidaus Mohd S. Roll No. 43

[ WOMEN IN AFGHANISTAN AND MARKETING]

I, MRS. MAHALAKSHMI SANKAR, hereby certify that

Prof. MAHALAKSHMI SANKAR

Shaikh Fidaus Mohd S. Roll No. 43

[ WOMEN IN AFGHANISTAN AND MARKETING]

Shaikh Fidaus Mohd S. Roll No. 43

[ WOMEN IN AFGHANISTAN AND MARKETING]

Shaikh Fidaus Mohd S. Roll No. 43

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Many companies like cosmetics, mobile operators are also

Afghanistans Women and Empowerment:

Marketing of products by Afghanistan women:

Companies marketing their product to Afghan women:

Shaikh Fidaus Mohd S. Roll No. 43

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Inspiring stories of Afghan women

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Things banned on women in Afghanistan

Shaikh Fidaus Mohd S. Roll No. 43

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They are not allowed to watch Television etc.

[ WOMEN IN AFGHANISTAN AND MARKETING]

Shaikh Fidaus Mohd S. Roll No. 43

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2.Afghanistans Women and Empowerment

Shaikh Fidaus Mohd S. Roll No. 43

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Market Development Problems, Recommendations, Progress and Efforts

Shaikh Fidaus Mohd S. Roll No. 43

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High cost of transporting the goods:

Shaikh Fidaus Mohd S. Roll No. 43

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Inability to join local and international exhibits:

Shaikh Fidaus Mohd S. Roll No. 43

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Shaikh Fidaus Mohd S. Roll No. 43

[ WOMEN IN AFGHANISTAN AND MARKETING]

Shaikh Fidaus Mohd S. Roll No. 43

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Increase access to domestic and international markets

Shaikh Fidaus Mohd S. Roll No. 43

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Shaikh Fidaus Mohd S. Roll No. 43

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Strengthen womens linkages/ networks for trade

Shaikh Fidaus Mohd S. Roll No. 43

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A producers association could be organized to access of government or international

[ WOMEN IN AFGHANISTAN AND MARKETING]

Shaikh Fidaus Mohd S. Roll No. 43

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