The director of woman’s affairs, Miriam Panjshiri, and the Panjshir Provincial Reconstruction Team woman’s affairs team held a woman’s shura with 34 Afghan women from 15 different villages in Bazarak District to discuss community issues on Dec. 2.

“No other shura went this well,” said an Afghan female interpreter who has worked with the woman’s affairs team over the past year. “Women are usually trying to talk over each other and at times disagree on the needs of the village.”

During last week’s shura the women were more patient and respectful of one another.

The woman’s affairs team believes the Memorandum of Understanding developed between the government and the women of Panjshir empowers them with the knowledge necessary
to bring more development to their villages.

“They know they need to submit proposals through the Provincial Development Council in order to get their project added to the list of future projects,” said Tech. Sgt. Dawn Allison-Hess, a member of the woman’s affairs team.

The governor tells the Provincial Development Council how to prioritize their list, and the PRT will not take on any projects that have not been presented to the council and prioritized by the governor, she said.

The women of Bazarak District came to the shura last week knowing the types of projects they desired for their villages. Many voiced the need for more power and water, and expressed an interest in projects such as sewing and poultry.

“The women brought their concerns and wishes to this shura, and now Miriam and I will try and get projects into their villages,” said Spc. Amanda Cutler, woman’s affairs team.

Following the shura, the woman’s affairs team provided attendees with prayer rugs, bowls, pots, flasks and lunch boxes.

DVIDS
By 1st Lt. Lory Stevens
Combined Joint Task Force – 101

One hundred fifty bee boxes were delivered to Bazarak District Sept. 17 as part of an overall $180,000 province-wide project conducted by the local government and the Panjshir Provincial Reconstruction Team to help both the local economy and boost agricultural production.

Seventy-five families in each of the six lower districts throughout Panjshir will receive two of the $200 bee boxes, training, a centrifuge and protective equipment. Bazarak is the fourth district to receive the bees.

“We worked together and were successful in bringing the bee project to Panjshir,” said Hashmat-Ullah Enyat, the Provincial Director of Agriculture. “We’ve already delivered the bees to Anaba, Rokha, and Shotul districts, today we do Bazarak and we’ll do the last two districts soon.”

“In agriculture, the bees are most necessary. They help all of the agriculture grow faster,” said Mir Weis, the beekeeper overseeing the distribution of the bees. “The bees are the main ingredient in the pollination process and they are always good to have around the crops. Successful and plentiful pollination is crucial to getting a good strong crop.”

Mr. Gregory Schlenz, a U.S. Department of Agriculture representative with the Panjshir PRT, said he agrees with Weis and has been working hand-in-hand with the PRT’s civil affairs team and the province’s director of agriculture to get the bees into the province.

“In my travels I have not seen many native bees in Panjshir. Just today I was standing in a field of clover that should have been abuzz with bees—yet there were none, and that’s not good,” said Schlenz. “These bees will provide better pollination for all of the crops in Panjshir to include the vegetables and the numerous fruit orchards that the Panjshir Province is famous for.”

The main requirement was that the boxes went to the neediest people in each district, said Enyat.

“Many of the provincial line directors and district governors worked together to make a list of the 75 most needy families in each district capable of maintaining the bees,” he said

“We hope that these families were trained well, and hopefully this project will encourage them to do more for themselves and also for the growth of the economy,” said Ihnsaanullah, the head of Panjshir’s Provincial Council

Each colony is expected to produce approximately 10 kg. of honey after the first year. This means that Bazarak District could possibly see 1,500 kilos of honey once they start to produce.

During the first year there will be no product because the bees are still building their colony, said Schlenz.

“In the second year the beekeeping families will start to get the benefit of the extra honey to either eat or sell,” he said. “and that’s when the economic impact of the bees will start to be seen.”

The average price of a kilogram of honey in Panjshiri shops runs anywhere from 10 to 15 dollars. This means that there is the possibility of bringing anywhere from $15,000 to $22,000 per year into a district’s economy once the hives start to produce.

“This is just the beginning of a profitable new industry in Panjshir that will have an immediate impact on the families … and [have] a continuous tangible impact on the local economy,” said Capt. Jayson Stewart, Panjshir PRT’s director of operations who represented the PRT at the event.

The continuous tangible impact is what government officials are hoping for.

Four hundred and fifty families throughout the province will receive the 900 bee boxes. But the director of agriculture hopes that the benefit will not end with those 450.

“Once these families have worked with the bees for a year, they will be able to teach others how to work with them as well,” said Enyat. “This a great success story for both the agriculture sector and the economy in Panjshir.”

CJTF-101
Written by Air Force Capt. Jillian Torango