Iowa National Guard taking up farming in Afghanistan

By James Q. Lynch 

The Gazette

The Iowa National Guard is preparing to take on a new mission – farming.

A 60-member team of members of the Iowa Air and Army National Guard will deploy in June for a one-year mission working with farmers and agri-businesses in Kunar Province in northeast Afghanistan to restore the country's ag economy.

The goal is to provide food for personal use and for sale throughout Afghanistan and foreign markets as well as lessen the country's dependence on poppies as a crop, according to U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack and USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack, who talked about the mission in a conference call with reporters Monday.

Guard members, who volunteered for the mission, will be involved in “very traditional agriculture … a very basic production system,” said Vilsack, the former Iowa governor.

Nearly nine tenths Kunar Province is mountainous or semi mountainous while just 12 percent is made up of flat land.

“This is not about turning this into an Iowa cornfield,” Vilsack said. “This is really about focusing on what they can do with very limited resources, very limited technology.”

Among the volunteers are a large animal veterinarian, a vet tech, people involved in production agriculture, hydrology, construction, engineering and forestry, according to Col. Craig Bargfrede, commander of the agri-business development team.

The team members were selected from among those who volunteered based on skill sets necessary to continue projects started by a California agri-business development team, Bargfrede said.

The mission is consistent with diplomatic and military leaders' belief that the Unites States cannot succeed by force alone. Loebsack said. Eighty percent of the Afghan economy is tied to agriculture, he said. Military leaders believe that people involved in profitable ag enterprises, including feeding themselves and their families, are less likely to join the Taliban or other insurgents, he said.

“When people have something to lose they are less interested in having insecurity in their area,” Loebsack said. The agri-business development teams “will make security more durable.”

The Guard members are working with Iowa State University so they are prepared to advise Afghan farmers on best practices in the arid to semiarid climate that produces cold winters and hot summers.

The Guard team will deploy in June for 30 days training and should be in Afghanistan by early August.