California ADT hopes Afghanistan reaps the fruits of their labor

By Staff Sgt. Jessica Inigo
California National Guard

Col. Eric Grimm, commander of the California National Guard agricultural development team, talks with Brig. Gen. Scott Johnson about his practical agricultural experience and combat-zone readiness for deployment to Kunar Province, Afghanistan. (Photo courtesy of the California National Guard)
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SACRAMENTO, Calif., (8/12/09) - An agricultural development team made up of National Guard Soldiers from throughout California is headed for Afghanistan to help plant the seeds of hope.

The hope will come in the form of higher-yielding crops, which will provide more for Afghan farmers and their country.

Farming experts, engineers, forestry professionals, power-generation specialists and even animal consultants contribute to the 63-member agricultural development team, which is part of the 40th Infantry Division. Other members not skilled in agricultural-related specialties bring other important skills in medicine and security.

Both practical agricultural experience and combat-zone readiness will help bring Afghan farmers into the 21st century, said Col. Eric Grimm, commander of the California National Guard agricultural development team, which will deploy to Kunar Province, Afghanistan, at the end of this month.  

“You bring in people, who have these specialties and get them to collaborate on projects – we’re talking agri-business and business practices – and things will improve,” said Grimm. “It’s not just the growing and distribution of agricultural products. All our people have different and multiple specialties. We have synergy.”

Afghan farming techniques are considered primitive compared with those in the United States, he said, and the methods that Afghan farmers have historically used are now keeping them from reaching their full potential.

Everything from the long-standing Afghan practice of storing seeds on rooftops to how farmers implement irrigation are hurdles the agri-business team plans to address.

Methods to improve soil and irrigation, maintain crops, store crops and seeds better, and care for livestock will be taught and are expected to produce better crop results. Afghan farmers will also be taught long-term methods that will allow them to continue to use their fields to yield more crops and sell more.

“They have the ability to make their soil work for them, but they just don’t have the infrastructure in place to do it right now,” said Sgt. Todd Percival, a soil science expert.

Beyond crop rotation and seed storage issues, however, Guard members said they hope the agricultural team will build trust among the Afghan people and, by helping develop the battle-scarred country, make improvements across the board.

Sgt. Rebecca Love, who is deploying as a medic, said she likes the “overall feeling of changing the hearts and minds of the locals.”

As a female medic, Love said she holds a critical position in-country, because tradition holds that injured women can only be treated by other women. By having a female medic on the team, therefore, the Soldiers may save many more lives than they could as an all-male team.

“The whole situation with women and their religious beliefs and being treated by a male allows me the opportunity to tangibly help the people of Afghanistan,” said Love, who is working toward a physician’s assistant degree at Sacramento City College. She hopes to log the patient-hours she needs for her civilian program, while deployed to Afghanistan.

Grimm said that bringing expertise in so many different fields to the Afghan people could help their country once again become a large exporter of agricultural products.

Afghanistan once exported fresh fruit, cereal, medicinal plants, animal products and cotton. The fields and crops, however, were overused, and the land is not as productive as it once was.

Government agencies like the California National Guard’s agricultural development team, however, are paving the way for a sustainable future, according to the Web site for the Export Promotion Agency of Afghanistan.

“The increase in national exports over the past two years is largely due to major reforms the government has put into place to simplify and organize export procedures and the creation of a more cooperative business environment between the government and business community to ensure that the difficulties the private sector faces are dealt with accordingly and with resolve, so as to ensure sustainable growth for the decades to come,” the Web site states.

“Numerous obstacles Afghan exporters faced, such as high export taxes, collection of illegal commission fees and lack of capacity building, are now top government priorities. Just recently, the government waved all export taxes to encourage and promote exports.”

Farming accounts for more than a third of Afghanistan’s annual gross domestic product of $23 billion, and nearly three-fourths of all Afghans rely on farming for their income, even though only about 12 percent of the land in the mountainous country is suitable for cultivation.

In arid Afghanistan, where water reigns king, the know-how of Staff Sgt. John Faircloth is crucial. A jack-of-all trades of sorts, Faircloth is an expert in cogeneration (utilizing otherwise-wasted heat to create electricity) and water-power generation, which can help all aspects of framing and business.

“I grew up on a farm, so I really can use my knowledge in harnessing electricity as well as the tidbits I learned on the farm, including fixing many things, to our advantage in-country,” he said.

When the 40th Infantry Division’s agricultural team members arrive in Afghanistan, they will enter a situation where the know-how of American farming techniques has already begun to take hold; local farmers have begun implementing more effective ways to grow local crops such as wheat, rice, nuts and fruit.

The California team will take the reins from other Guard teams that preceded them. Guard teams from Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Tennessee and Texas are in Afghanistan now.

“We know that any project we start, we will not see the ultimate fruits of our labor, but the groups after us and the country itself will reap the benefits,” said Grimm.

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