By Zach Warren, Kabul Field Officer for International Relief and Development
“Give us seed, and we can grow it. Anything - gandum, rumi, bodrang, bomya, kachalu, zardak, pista,” Ramullah said. He smiled at me, showing his three multicolored front teeth. “Wheat, tomato, cucumber, okra, potato, carrot, pistachio tree – give us good seeds and we can make crops.”
I met Ramullah on a snowy day last December at a wheat seed and fertilizer distribution.
Ramullah is the head of the farmer’s cooperative in the remote village of Sayed in Sar-e-Pul province, northern Afghanistan. When there’s a dispute between farmers, they go to him. When there are questions about irrigation techniques, they go to him. Several years ago, he led a poppy eradication movement in his community. Now they are poppy-free, but they need alternative crops.
