Hydroponic Hope in Fields of Flowers
If you made a list of your top 10 favorite things, what would be on it? Maybe some of your favorite food items, a massage, or motorcross. Mine would include flowers. I love the sight of flowers. Fresh flowers, pictures of flowers, flower-printed shirts. I feel calm and joyful inside when I see something so beautiful.
I never would have imagined those flowers at the top could cause so much destruction. What do you know about Afghanistan? As an American, I knew we had political conflicts there, and the country had internal conflicts as well. I knew it was a poor country with restrictive rights towards women. What I didn’t know is that between 20–32% of the country’s GDP is held by opium production. I thought opium stopped being produced when the British East Indies company crumbled in the 1800s, reducing the ability to trade opium with China.
I learned about the invasive effect of opium on Afghanistan’s economy a few years ago in my late teens. It started when I read Khaled Hosseini’s book, “A Thousand Splendid Suns.” I was shocked to think that while I was naively playing basketball on my peaceful street in small town America as an 11 year old, girls my same age were being forbidden from schools, bought and sold, imprisoned, impregnated, or even killed. I felt so helpless. All I could do was read more; devour any material that would teach me what was going on in a place so far away but attached so deeply inside me.
I read articles online from Middle Eastern news websites, articles from journalists at the Washington Post, and any data the UN had produced the past 15 years. I found a book by Fariba Nawa, an Afghan-American journalist, “Opium Nation: Child Brides, Drug Lords, and One Woman’s Journey Through Afghanistan.” I finished it in a week. How could such beautiful flowers, one of my favorite things, cause such immense destruction to individuals and a society! After all of that research, I was devastated. I was angry. I was motivated.
I knew I wanted to make a change in the world since I was a little girl, and this information inspired me more than ever before. I found archives full of data about the lack of education for women, growth of opium production, and lack of economic opportunity within the country. I started dreaming of ways I could make a small, but impactful change.
This is where my love for technology drove me to start thinking creatively… What is one area in which Afghans excel? Farming! And what is a simple job that I could provide in Afghanistan? Farming jobs! And who can do a farming job? Anyone! It’s not gender specific, and it utilizes the skill set and resources of people already willing and able to work. The FAO, which has many long-term irrigation projects in Afghanistan, reported, “The economy has traditionally been dominated by agriculture, which accounts for over half the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and employs 66% of Afghanistan’s workforce.”
But Afghanistan has been experiencing droughts and extreme flooding for several years due to climate change. This has led to irrigation failures for consecutive years, and the need of water, especially in cities, is tremendously high. Reuters reported, “Afghanistan, a country where nearly 20 million people rely on farming, has seen a 45 percent fall in agricultural output this year [2019] as the drought has bitten, officials at the ministry of agriculture said.” NGOs have really made a lot of investments in Afghanistan, but there is still a need for sustainable businesses. So, back to technology! I believe there is a creative, technological solution for the lack of jobs, culture of farming, and water shortage in Afghanistan: hydroponic farming!
Many people have never heard of hydroponic farming, but it’s actually been around for thousands of years (remember the hanging gardens of Babylon from history class?). The term “hydroponic” was coined in the 1930s by a botanist at the University of California who was able to grow 25 ft tall tomato vines using only fertilizer and water! Hydroponic farming uses an extremely small amount of water (5–10%) compared to traditional farming; it allows water to go directly to the plant, and be recycled through the planting system instead of dispersing throughout unused dirt in the ground. It also uses little to no soil and less space; plants can be grown vertically, increasing the amount of crops by up to 10x in the same amount of space as traditional farming. Hydroponics is much more environmentally friendly and does not require the use of pesticides, since crops are grown in a controlled environment. Lastly, it wouldn’t require me to buy or rent a large field in Afghanistan; one of the main challenges that some of the traditional agricultural businesses founded by foreigners listed.
There are many hydroponic startups in urban areas of India that are not only succeeding, but thriving. This is important to note since India has many of the same climate and infrastructure challenges as Afghanistan. Here’s a short video that explains the basics of hydroponics:
So now, I had an idea! And even somewhat of a rough “plan.” But really, I had no guidance, no support, and no preparatory business experience. I felt that I was at a crossroads for the path I wanted to take, versus the current needs in my life to get there. I was working a part-time job and I didn’t have the investment money for a small business, especially not an international one. After weighing various options, I decided that if I wanted to inspire women in the beautiful nation of Afghanistan to pursue their dreams, create a life for themselves, and get an education, then I needed to do the same. After many months of preparation, I enrolled in an international MBA program.
And, I found other American women who have started agricultural businesses in Afghanistan. Specifically, I started studying Rumi Spice, a saffron spice business started by a female U.S. army veteran formerly stationed in Afghanistan, and Tahmina International, a saffron tea business with a partnership between local afghani farmers and a U.S. based sales team. Both of these businesses focus on employing women, and using the strengths and skills they already possess.
The final company I found, which really encouraged me in this model, is from a U.S. trained Afghan engineer and former poppy grower, Mohammad Din Sapai, who started his own rose farming business. This business has been very lucrative, and created jobs for more than 120 local Afghans because of how popular rose oil & water is in the beauty market & the opportunity to export it. He was resourceful and created opportunities for his own people through a more sustainable agricultural option than poppies. Rose cultivation plays off some of the same principles as hydroponics:
“Roses “do not require watering, fertilizer or care” — unlike poppies, he says. Rose trees are also more durable, lasting 30 to 50 years, compared with poppies, which must be planted every season.”
I reached out to the founder of Tahmina International via email, and was able to learn a lot about business visas and registration, shipping, and operations information from their female founder. It was practical and helpful, and opened my eyes to the fact that I need a mentor to walk me through these processes. We cannot accomplish our dreams alone; connectivity is the answer to our needs.
I’m realizing my needs… accounting for them. I need leadership assistance and guidance on how to begin, implement, and grow this business. I need a tech expert to help with the setup for a hydroponic farm, and how I can assemble the structure in the country. I need more contacts inside Afghanistan. I need help finding a translator and learning the employment laws for Afghanistan. I need to create a business plan, outline revenue streams, make an MVP website for ecommerce, and learn how to implement international shipping out of a country which doesn’t have reliable postal options. Lastly, I need an investment plan and to find investors.
Even as I write all of this out and realize that maybe this could become a reality, I also feel overwhelmed. I feel ill-equipped and unqualified. I feel like I’m just one, young woman, with an idea and a dream, and no true route to make it happen. I’m halfway through my MBA program and I’m still waiting for that, “aha!” moment, when I think, “Yeah, I can do this!” But, it hasn’t happened yet. This feeling coupled with security concerns from virtually everyone I know leaves me feeling like I can’t bring this vision into reality.
But I know that the world becomes a better place when we collaborate together, using our shared resources, to create opportunities that provide for a better future. I want to empower women. I want to create jobs. I want to reduce the cultivation and sales of opium. I want to see an economy in a war-torn country stabilize and grow. I want to pay wages that send women to universities. I want to provide monetary freedom for families. I want to create something beautiful for Afghanistan, a land full of riches in its culture, history, and people. I am determined. I will find strength, courage, and resilience from those around me, near and far, who have persevered throughout the ages, like the Afghans.
There is hope for Afghanistan to rise out of the fields of flowers, and to bloom in new ways.
