Ag Fair Stage

I’m back in Kabul for my second visit to work with the Capacity Building and Change Management Program (CBCMP).  Frozen snow piles are melting away to green grass and buds on the trees.  The skies are clear, the sun is out, it’s the perfect Spring weather to spend a day outside learning more about Afghanistan.

In Afghanistan, March 22nd, the day after the lunar New Year, is known as Farmer’s Day.  For the past several years, the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation, and Livestock (MAIL) has hosted an agriculture fair on this day.  This year, for the first time, MAIL funded and organized the fair without international donor support and it was a huge success!  CBCMP, which works at MAIL was invited to attend the opening ceremony and explore the fair before it was open to the public.  Many of the Change Management Specialists (CMS) who coach and mentor civil servants for

CBCMP assisted their MAIL counterparts in organizing the fair and were excited to show off their hard work.  The fair was located on the outskirts of Kabul in Badam Bagh (Almond Garden) where the ministry has several acres of land used for their research.  This is also where the Kabul District office of MAIL is located.  It is a beautiful location tucked at the foot of the mountains surrounding Kabul.  

 

Plant Protection and Quarantine Directorate's booth

 

The legenday cow

The fair held several dozen booths with displays from many of the MAIL directorates (departments) such as the Plant Protection and Quarantine Directorate, who showed many types of pests infecting Afghanistan crops and the products and tools MAIL uses to battle these

infestations.  There were also several booths from private companies selling their agriculture products. One such company is Fruit Plus, a juice company that produces their delicious juices entirely in Afghanistan from planting to packaging.  Their pomegranate juice is a staff favorite!

A few other highlights include the healthiest cows I’ve ever seen in a developing nation, whose size in re-telling has reached mythic proportion.  Our resident expert Mark Glover, former city manager and ICMA member (he’s the only one who’s ever milked a cow), informed us that the large animals on display weren’t even full grown yet, but already they were quite impressive.  The tractor display and Kuchi (nomadic herders) tent were also favorite attractions. 

 

Mark Glover

The Minister of MAIL and the Minister of Finance both made speeches, and after a few short presentations, the fair was open to the public!  Thousands of people were streaming down the road to reach the fair.  With few other entertainment options in Kabul, the fair was a fantastic family activity during the New Year holiday.  CBCMP was pleased to be invited to celebrate this momentous accomplishment with the ministry and are very proud of our staff’s contributions to the event.  Happy New Year and Farmer’s Day!