Four girls studying agriculture at Kabul University began a mushroom farming project together after facing restrictions in their studies. They hail from different provinces but shared the idea and initiative for this venture.
Zahra Bahaduri, Nazanin Rafiee, Wasima Jalili, and Yalda Qaderi, fourth-year agriculture students, jointly founded this farm after universities were closed, and now they yield from this farm throughout the four seasons. This group of four, each from the provinces of Parwan, Nangarhar, Badakhshan, and Panjshir, initiated their work for the first time with an initial investment of 10,000 Afghanis. Their work has now flourished, and they lead this farm collectively.
Zahra Bahaduri, a member of this team, states that after establishing this farm, which was their joint decision, they endeavored to address the psychological challenges arising from academic breaks by engaging in productive work. Furthermore, they aimed to generate income by collectively creating a farm for mushroom cultivation or "Samaruq."
They are fourth-year students at Kabul University, majoring in Agricultural Business Management and Agriculture. However, they cannot continue their studies because the university is currently banned by the authorities for women and girls.
This team, named "Silk Road" by the four-member group themselves, aims to expand domestic mushroom production in Afghanistan to reduce reliance on imported products. Zahra states, "Currently, using available materials for cultivating mushrooms, we managed to produce oyster mushrooms and obtained positive results. Now, we are awaiting the results of button mushrooms, another type of mushroom."
Read the entire article at the Khaama Press