KABUL: Roots of Peace, a San Rafael-based humanitarian group, is celebrating a three-year extension of a program that converts conflict zones in Afghanistan into farmland.
The U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, announced Wednesday the extension of the Commercial Horticulture and Agriculture Marketing Program in Afghanistan, adding nearly $16 million to the project’s previous budget of $46 million. The program that began in 2010 will continue through 2019 to widen its coverage in Afghanistan, reaching more international markets.
“As an American CEO and mother, it was my great honor to be in Afghanistan this week, standing in solidarity with our Afghan farmers and families,” said CEO Heidi Kuhn, who was at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul on Tuesday to accept the funding. “We are coming up on our 20th anniversary and we are very proud to heal the wounds of war.”
Roots of Peace has cleared mines and restored farmland in Afghanistan since 2003. The nonprofit, founded in 1997, has done similar work in countries including Iraq, Angola, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Israel and Kyrgyzstan. This year, the nonprofit’s estimated operating budget is about $10 million. It has been employing about 50 staff members, and with this extension could increase its crew by 30.
Through the USAID-funded program, Roots of Peace has helped facilitate the export of about $51 million of fruits and nuts to international markets, including Pakistan, Bahrain, Canada, India, the United Arab Emirates, Russia and Saudi Arabia.
It has helped establish about 20,000 vineyards and orchards, benefiting more than 38,000 Afghan households, and creating more than 7,700 full-time jobs through increased production and exports. More than 80 percent of Afghans make their living in agriculture, USAID officials said.
“The work we are doing takes time,” said Gary Kuhn, who is the president of Roots of Peace and Heidi Kuhn’s husband. He added that the extension will help solidify the market they’ve helped establish.“We are focused on horticulture crops — fruits and nuts — the cash crops. And we are enabling farmers to earn much higher incomes,” he said.
The extension received accolades from Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael. “Roots of Peace’s work to improve the lives and livelihood of Afghans through sustainable agricultural practices is important,” Huffman said in a statement. “This USAID award of over $61 million will go a long way for Roots of Peace as they work to help Afghanistan recover from decades of war in the region.”
