Afghanistan makes debut at Berlin Green Week (News Feature)

By Clive Freeman Jan 24, 2011, 8:11 GMT

Berlin - Afghanistan made its debut at the world's biggest farm-produce show, offering dried fruit, saffron and rose oil suitable for perfume, part of an international effort to stop poor farmers growing opium poppies.

The 16 Afghan companies, from different areas of the war-troubled country, are exhibiting at International Green Week, which runs until January 30 in Berlin.

'It's a fantastic opportunity for us, being in Berlin,' says Mohammed Fazel Wasit, deputy chief executive of the Export Promotion Agency of Afghanistan, speaking in front of the white-coloured Afghan pavilion at the city exhibition grounds.

'We are really proud to be here, and know we have some really interesting products to show the public,' he said.

In the Afghan stand, in Hall 7, dried and fresh fruits, saffron from Herat, fresh pomegranates from Kandahar, almond-oil products and a host of perfumes, herbs and spices are on display.

Coloured saffron at the booth can be served hot or cold with coffee and tea.

Visitors can also find out about Afghan rose oil, which is supplied to the scents industry.

A decade ago, a German cosmetics company, Wala, approached Welthungerhilfe, an aid organization, with a plan to cultivate oil- roses in Afghanistan as an alternative to poppies.

The project, targeting small farmer families in the districts of Dar-e-Noor, Achin and Nazian, has since helped improve living conditions in Nangarhar province in eastern Afghanistan.

Previously, many of its communities had been displaced during decades of conflict.

'750 Afghan farmers are now involved in producing roses, with up to 100 hectares of roses planted. Rose oil distilleries have helped create manufacturing jobs and real incomes for people in the villages,' explains an Afghan official.

Earlier, before rose oil distilleries arrived in the province, rose essence was made as a traditional handcraft in copper pots.

Anwar-ul-haq Ahadi, the Afghan minister for commerce and industries, attended Green Week to meet German food and farm officials.

Wasit says organizing Afghanistan's Green Week participation was complicated. The bulk of its display products had to be shipped to Germany via Pakistan.

'But, with the support of German ministry friends, and also our own Export Promotion Agency and Ministry of Commerce, we managed it,' he said.

Barakatullah Rahmati, the chief of the Afghanistan Saffron Company in Herat, told the German Press Agency dpa that the saffron on display was 'the finest quality found anywhere in the world.'

He said, 'We first began exporting amounts of saffron to Germany towards the end of last year, so that German traders would be in a position to judge for themselves its quality.'

Saffron is a spice long used in Mediterranean and Middle East cooking and prized for its intense flavour and pleasant aroma.

Rahmati claims there are also health benefits from saffron.

'Current studies of the effects of saffron in animal tests have shown improvement in fighting cancer, reducing cholesterol and even improving overall mental functions,' he says.

Saffron is grown in Afghanistan without the use of fertilizers, adds Rahmati, who is eager that German people visiting the show get to get to know the products. 'I am sure that when they do, they will soon learn to appreciate them.'

Organizers say Green Week is the world's biggest agricultural and pastoral show.

Another country making its debut at the 2011 Green Week is Rwanda.

Visitors to its stand in Hall 8 can sample the taste of crocodile, antelope, springbok and ostrich meat prepared in the form of an 'African barbecue,' accompanied by vegetarian samosas (pastry parcels containing vegetables), topped with hot piri-piri or peanut sauce.

Half-a-dozen African staff bustle about the stand.

'While some people are interested in tasting crocodile meat, others are horrified by the very idea,' says a beaming Immaculata Mukamugema, who heads the 'Jambo' African food stand in Hall 8.

Some 1,632 exhibitors from 57 countries are showing produce at this year's ten-day event, which is expected to attract 400,000 visitors, mostly from Berlin and neighbouring Brandenburg state.

At the first weekend, big crowds thronged the various pavilions. This year's Green Week 'partner country' is Poland.

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