by Abdul Haleem

QALA-E-NAW, Afghanistan, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- "My prime objective is to provide job opportunities for our people and today I am happy that some 100 persons including women have been hired in the pistachio processing plant to earn a livelihood," head and the owner of the plant, Yaser Ali spoke joyfully.

This is the first time that a pistachio processing plant has been established in the poor and insurgency-plagued Badghis province of the conflict-battered Afghanistan.

Blaming poverty as the main instrument for the militants to hire youngsters from poverty-stricken families as foot soldiers to fight against the government, Ali emphasized that any Afghan within its capacity should attempt to alleviate poverty in his or her community.

Establishing the first-ever pistachio processing factory in Qala-e-Naw, capital of the western Badghis province at a cost of 158,000 U.S. dollars last week, Ali said that his employees receive 25,000 to 60,000 afghani (1 U.S. dollar equals 76.70 Afghanis) monthly, depending on their work and skills.

The restive Badghis province is among the poorest provinces in Afghanistan where the Taliban militants are active and the rate of unemployment is high, according to locals.

To escape the poverty and Taliban fighting, many people, especially the youngsters choose to leave their home in Badghis for neighboring Iran, Pakistan and even European countries, locals said.

Pistachio is a natural treasure, Ali said, adding if both the people and local authorities protect and develop the trees, it would avail the people to find jobs and improve their living conditions.

"I want to develop my plant to expand my activities and hire more employees so as to help more families increase their income and improve their living conditions in the restive and mountainous Badghis province," Ali muttered with joy.

Welcoming the inauguration of the plant as a significant step towards investment attraction and creating job opportunities, a worker of the plant, Sharafudin called upon more businessmen to invest in the troubled Badghis province.

"I am sure that investment and creating job opportunities for the people would from one hand alleviate poverty, and on the other hand shrink Taliban's chance to exploit poverty and hire male members of poor families to fight for the armed group," Sharafudin muttered.

Badghis, according to Abdul Tawab Tayeb, the head of the Agriculture Department of Badghis province is a pistachio growing region that has grown pistachio gardens in more than 5,000 hectares of lands since 2014.

The price of 1 kg pistachio in the local market is 800 to 1,200 afghani, depending on its quality, the official said.

"Badghis has harvested 36,458 tons pistachio so far this year," Tayeb told Xinhua recently.

Pistachio is an important element in Afghanistan's export, the official said, adding the government would do its best to find more markets of the valuable seed in different countries including China.

Describing China as a good market for Afghanistan's pistachio, owner of the factory, Ali said, "I am calling upon the government to help me export my product to China via air corridor, as the government did with pine nuts." Enditem

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