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Beating swords into plowshares for Afghanistan

One of my favorite films of recent years is Charlie Wilson’s War. It tells the true story of the U.S. covert operation that resulted in the defeat of the Russians by the Afghan freedom fighters in 1988.

After spending billions of dollars to equip and train the Afghans with the latest sophisticated military weapons, the U.S. Congress - in a classic case of short-sightedness - refused to spend a few million more to rebuild schools and help the Afghans recover from years of Russian occupation.

History has shown us that this blunder led to the rise of the Taliban and indirectly the 9/11 attack and today’s escalation of U.S. military involvement. As history often does, we now have a chance to repeat our mistake or take a new path that will provide a much different future.

The USDA has put in place a program that has the potential to do what the State Department and Pentagon have promised but failed to deliver, that is, a peaceful and long-lasting stabilization of this strategic nation.

When President Obama announced his plan for a troop buildup in Afghanistan in December, he mentioned in passing the role that agriculture would play. What he should have said is that agriculture would be the primary effort in Afghanistan. As USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack said during his recent trip to Afghanistan, “80 percent of the people in this country depend on agriculture for their livelihood.”
In a surprising chunk of insight, Vilsack said nothing will create stability and build wealth faster than rebuilding the Afghan farm economy.

Currently USDA has 40 employees in the country with plans to expand that number to 60. They are working with the Afghan government to redevelop the nation’s agricultural economy. At one time this nation was a major producer of nuts, fruit, and a variety of horticulture products.

It enjoyed thriving export sales to Pakistan and India. But 30 years of war have decimated its natural resources, and a thriving drug trade has turned farmers into poppy producers for the world’s drug lords.

In a refreshing bit of common sense, the USDA is teaching these farmers and producers to grow high-value crops that pay them more than the poppy crop does.

The United States is also consulting on the development of value-added, food processing plants that provide finished products for the export market. Vilsack said the USDA is also helping to negotiate export trade deals for Afghanistan with several nations, including India.

In a teleconference with reporters, Vilsack said the USDA is acting in a supportive role as technical advisors to the Afghan government, allowing it to take the lead and set priorities.
This demonstrates a level of international understanding and diplomacy of which I thought the U.S. government incapable. If all this is true, the USDA represents the best hope of the Afghan people for a profitable and peaceful future.

While the U.S. military is needed in Afghanistan, and security remains a serious issue, far more progress and more rapid progress could be made with a much greater effort to rebuild Afghan agriculture. A thriving agriculture economy can provide food security and real jobs for people, the two biggest factors in bringing peace and stability to a nation.

Agriculture can show the Afghans a better way of life than terrorism and violence. It also builds self-sufficiency rather than dependence on the United States.

If more U.S. soldiers were planting trees instead of shooting terrorists, the Afghans might begin to see America as something other than another foreign army occupying their country.
U.S. agriculture is the most powerful and effective foreign policy tool we have, yet the USDA is at the bottom of the pecking order of cabinet agencies.

Few administrations, of either party, have ever seen the social, economic, political and diplomatic benefits of teaching people to grow and sell their own food. The USDA efforts in Afghanistan represent a real chance to make a difference in the world. This effort needs to be expanded and made a top priority of the Obama White House.

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments for Gary Truitt may write him in care of this publication.

1/20/2010