Agricultural Products Exhibition Opens in Kabul with 263 Stalls

The exhibition known as “Farmers’ Fair” and the 34th Agricultural and Livestock Products Exhibition was inaugurated on Tuesday at the Badam Research Farm in Kabul, attended by several Taliban administration officials. According to the organizers, 263 stalls have been set up to showcase agricultural and livestock products, and the exhibition will continue until the 5th of the month of Sowr.

Mawlawi Attaullah Amiri, acting Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation, and Livestock of the Taliban administration, said during the opening ceremony that the ministry’s staff are committed to serving farmers and livestock owners from the start of cultivation until the harvest, striving to increase production levels. He also called on active investors in the import sector to invest in expanding domestic agricultural and livestock production.

The acting minister claimed that Afghanistan was previously dependent on foreign products, but now a large portion of the required food items is produced domestically. According to him, this year could be the “year of independence in the food sector,” with high-quality domestic products being offered in markets instead of low-quality foreign goods.

Meanwhile, Mirwais Hajizadeh, deputy director of the Chamber of Agriculture and Livestock, said that previously chicken meat was imported from abroad and there were doubts regarding whether it was halal or haram, but now, according to him, this sector has achieved self-sufficiency.

The organizers stated that the purpose of holding this exhibition is to provide marketing opportunities, facilitate producers’ access to domestic and foreign markets, attract investment, and promote the culture of using domestic products. However, in recent years, many farmers have consistently complained about the lack of facilities, the absence of organized markets, and economic challenges; issues that the Taliban administration is expected to address by offering practical and sustainable solutions alongside organizing such exhibitions.