[permaculture] alternatives to Poppies
yarrow at sfo.com
yarrow at sfo.com
Mon Dec 17 22:31:00 EST 2007
An interesting book for him to read would be Ancient Futures by
Helena Norberg-Hodge. She founded an organization to help the Ladakh
people become self-sufficient.
Instead of a crop, I would look at the microlending model (Grameen
Bank, Kiva.org, etc.) and, if I were in Afghanistan, look at what
resources the people have that could earn income -- crafts?
value-added agricultural products? I'd suggest the focus should be on
providing enough food for their own communities first, and then, in
collaboration with entrepreneurial Afghanis, come up with some ideas.
The most important "customers" would be fellow Afghanis. If they also
wanted to sell to the heathen west, then the places to contact would
be organizations such as Global Exchange or World of Good.
At 4:30 PM +0000 12/17/07, roxann wrote:
>Hi All,
>
>Do any of you have suggestions as to what kinds of plants Afgans and
>Iraqis can grow that will provide an income comparable to poppies?
>Someone from the US military has asked me to do some research and
>see if there are herbs they can help them get started growing with.
>He was interested in ginseng, but that won't grow there. It has too
>specific a requirement and the profit in growing it comes from the
>Chinese demand for wild or wild appearing US roots and the demand
>won't be the same for ginseng grown in fields. I am not familiar
>with the growing conditions of that region of the world. Will the
>Indian Ayurvedic herbs grow there? They want to grow something they
>can export to the global market, I believe.
>
>Suggestions, information of any sort is welcome. If you would like
>to be listed as a contact (for consulting/info) in the packet of
>information I send this Lieutenant, send me that as well.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Roxann, NW AR
>http://blog.ancientearthwisdom.com
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