Afghanistan: In Afghanistan’s Farm Belt, Women Lead Unions and Find New Status

Aug 31, 2016 | Mujib Mashal, New York Times
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In this lush farm belt deep in central Afghanistan, women have been the organizing force behind a new wave of small village farm unions. That seems to have brought some changes. In a reversal of tradition, husbands tend to walk after their wives, trailing a couple of steps behind with rolled-up sleeves and sun-beaten faces. And critically for this impoverished region, the unions have established modest supply chains at the market in the center of Bamian Province. Over just a few years, they have introduced new vegetables to their humble dinner plates.