February 2016—In southern Afghanistan, years of war and insecurity have widowed many women. Without a male head of household, women are not able to leave the home to access economic opportunities.

USAID’s Regional Agricultural Development Program-South addresses this issue by working with the Department of Women’s Affairs and local girls’ high schools in Kandahar, Helmand, Zabul and Uruzgan provinces. The program’s Agribusiness Empowerment Program trains women in basic business skills, financing, budgeting and communications. It also teaches women about nutrition and improved vegetable cultivation and harvesting techniques. With this set of skills, women can cultivate kitchen gardens as both small business ventures and to feed their families. The empowerment program began in September 2015, and 400 women and girls have graduated with the potential to become entrepreneurs.

Meena* is a widow from Tirin Kot district in Uruzgan province. Her husband’s death left her with three children to care for and very little economic resources. She could not afford to keep her children in school. She would send her son to the market to sell any extra vegetables the family had.

Then Meena heard about business training provided by the Uruzgan Department of Women’s Affairs. She graduated from the Agribusiness Empowerment Program in December 2015 and used her knowledge to start her own small business. She created a business plan and presented her idea to friends and neighbors, who provided initial investments in her sandwich-making operation. Meena found regular customers at the nearby girls’ high school and health clinic. With the money she made, she paid back her friends and invested in a small stock of flour, cooking oil and potatoes.

Meena found the Agribusiness Empowerment Program to be a great learning experience. “I now have enough funds to meet my daily needs, and my children have returned to school,” she said. “I am thankful for the ideas that helped me make a better situation for myself.”

In support of agriculture-led economic growth in Afghanistan, USAID’s Regional Agricultural Development Program-South trains farmers and small- and medium-scale agribusinesses to improve production, processing and marketing. The program runs from October 2013 to October 2018. So far, the program has trained more than 44,000 wheat and high-value crop farmers on improved production practices, and has trained 3,000 women on improved grain storage techniques, balanced nutrition, livestock health and basic business skills.

*Like many Afghans, Meena uses only one name.

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