KABUL, Afghanistan, - The subgovernor of the Nurgal District in the southern portion of Kunar province met with the Iowa National Guard’s 734th Agribusiness Development Team when the team visited the Nurgal District Center to discuss potential agricultural projects Dec. 1.
After meeting with agribusiness team leaders, the subgovernor, Ramatullah Himat, led them to the sites of the projects he deemed most critical to meeting the agricultural needs of his people and explained the projects’ importance.
The projects Himat proposed included a demonstration farm near the district center, refurbishment of a nearby fish farm and construction of an inlet gate at the head of a seven-kilometer-long irrigation canal, a canal that also needs to be cleaned.
Himat told the team members these were not projects he had come up with on his own.
“Before I developed this list, I consulted first with my agriculture department line director and also met with all the village elders,” Himat said. “They are the ones who best understand the needs of the district, and it is my job to meet those needs as best I can.”
Himat was the first subgovernor the agribusiness team has worked with to personally lead them to proposed project sites, said U.S. Army Col. Craig Bargfrede 734th Agribusiness Development Team commander.
“Subgovernor Himat is clearly an official who takes his responsibilities to his people seriously,” Bargfrede said. “Although we have only worked with him a short period of time, we have already developed a strong and positive relationship.”
That does not necessarily mean the team can accomplish everything on Himat’s project list. U.S. Army Maj. Dwayne Eden, a production agriculture specialist and the team’s project leader for Nurgal, pointed out that some of Himat’s priorities are more easily accomplished than others.
“Building a demonstration farm, making the pond at the fish farm usable again, even cleaning a large part of the canal are all within the realm of the possible,” Eden said. “But building the water inlet gate at the head of the canal – that’s probably a project outside the scope of what we can do.”
The agribusiness team’s officer in charge, U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Neil Stockfleth agreed with Eden’s assessment. Still, Stockfleth pointed out, the team might be able to indirectly facilitate progress on the canal inlet gate.
“There are other agencies that can take on a major construction project like that,” Stockfleth said. “We can make those agencies aware of the need and help link them to the right government officials.”