Afghanistan

American Soybean Association’s World Initiative for Soy in Human Health (WISHH) is the recipient of a three-year (2011-2013) USDA Food for Progress Cooperative Agreement for work in Afghanistan. Also benefiting are WISHH partners: Shelter for Life (SFL), Minnesota; Sustainable Appropriate Local Technologies (SALT), Iowa; and PARSA (Kabul).

The USDA cooperative agreement will provide the following components for Afghanistan:

Soybean Production: The Soybeans in the Agricultural Rehabilitation of Afghanistan Initiative (SARAI) Soybean Value Chain Project which will include approximately 9,000 subsistence farmers who will grow soybeans for the first time as a cash crop. The production project is located in Takhar Province. For crop year 2011, approximately 1,000 farmers (including 91 women farmers) planted 500 acres of soybeans. The project provides the farmers with soybean seeds and fertilizer.
Processing: A 6,000 metric ton capacity oilseed processing plant is being built in Mazar-e-Sharif, Balkh Province. This plant will process the 6,000 metric tons of donated soybeans over three years together with the soybeans produced by the SARAI project farmers.
Irrigation: Five irrigation systems will be rehabilitated or built within the project area
Roads – Thirty-five kilometers of tertiary roads (farm to market) will be rehabilitated
Micro Credit – Six hundred micro credit loans of $400 each will be made to the farmers
Monetization: Thirteen Thousand Five Hundred (13,500) metric tons of soybean oil which will be monetized or sold into the local market in support of the project activities.
Soy Flour Distribution: Two hundred forty (240) metric tons of defatted soy flour will be distributed over the next three years to meet immediate nutritional needs of 5,000 women and their families. Nutrition education and training in making soy fortified naan bread will also be provided to the women.
Direct Beneficiaries: Over the life of the program and all of its activities, this project will support more than 220,000 direct beneficiaries

Afghan farmers preparing fields for planting soybeans	Farmers receiving inputs (seeds, fertilizer)
Afghan woman farmer planting soybean crop	Afghan farmers tending the soybean crop
Afghan soybean crop nearing harvest

The newly constructed oilseed processing project (pictured below) will undergo start-up and commissioning the first week in October 2011.

New Afghan oil seed processing facility

Afgan proecessing plant equipped with an InstaPro Extruder

See news article reprinted from Kentucky Soybean Sentinel - Spring 2011 Issue

June 23, 2011 Status Report - In May, 414 bags of Stine soybean seeds arrived at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan for the U.S. Department of Agriculture-funded Soybeans in Agricultural Renewal of Afghanistan (SarAi) project, launched by the World Initiative for Soy in Human Health (WISHH) program in 2010. The seeds were loaded onto a truck and transported to the project site at Dashta-Qala, Takhar Province. On June 13, the farmers received the seeds, inoculum and fertilizer for planting their first cash crop. The multi-faceted SarAi project uses soybeans to benefit Afghan farmers, food processors, and rural communities, as well as women and children. It provides a total of 240 metric tons of defatted soy flour, 13,750 metric tons of soybean oil and 6,000 metric tons of soybeans over three years. Over the life of the program and all of its activities, this project will benefit more than 405,000 Afghan people.

June 30, 2011 Status Report - The World Initiative for Soy in Human Health (WISHH) program took another step forward in the implementation of its U.S. Department of Agriculture-funded Food for Progress SARAI (Soybeans for Agricultural Renewal in Afghanistan Initiative) project this week with the successful second sale of soybean oil. As part of the monetization, approximately 3,000 metric tons of soybean oil was sold at a premium and all proceeds will go to support the SARAI project activities.

September 20, 2011 Status Report – The soybean crop in Takhar province is almost ready for harvesting. It is anticipated that the actual harvest will begin by October 12-15. The processing plant will be started up and commissioned the first week in October, 2011.