Afghanistan: This Afghan Entrepreneur Directly Supports Women Who Harvest the World’s Most Precious Spice

Jul 8, 2021 | Shane Mitchell
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“I drink a cup of saffron tea every day,” says Tahmina Ghaffer, founder of Moonflowers, an importer of Afghanistan’s “red gold.” “It’s my waking-up ritual.” 

Born in Kabul, the 32-year-old spice trader left Afghanistan as a child, when her parents fled civil war and sought asylum in The Netherlands. She studied international public law at Rotterdam University, and subsequently practiced at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, an international court that addresses crimes related to terrorism, in The Hague. In 2019, Ghaffer emigrated to Washington, D.C., where her extended family owns restaurants. She now works as creative director for several of the dining group’s concepts, and this month, launched her own premium “super negin” saffron line to build awareness for pressing issues facing Afghan women, who comprise the majority of seasonal saffron-harvest labor in her homeland.