FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION

OF THE UNITED NATIONS

Organizing plant quarantine for producing healthy crops in Afghanistan

Over the past 21 months, FAO has provided funding up to US$420,000 as part of its
Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) to strengthen seed and plant health inspectorate
capacity in Afghanistan. This project has been implemented in collaboration with the Plant
Protection and Quarantine Department (PPQD) of the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and
Livestock (MAIL), through which a new seed and plant health laboratory was established and
made functional in Kabul, equipment provided for 4 border laboratories, a new plant
protection and quarantine law developed, and specialized training courses and study tours
conducted in and out of the country to enhance the capacity of up to 70 PPDQ technical staff
nationwide. Professional consultants from Asia, Europe and the United States have been
associated with the project and helping Afghan counterparts in implementing essential
activities.

As part of its concluding activities, the project recently organized a seminar on “Healthy Seed
for Healthy Crop” at the Kabul National Seed Secretariat which brought together 27 key
stakeholders from across the country and 4 international experts to discuss the importance of
plant quarantine and seed health for producing safe and healthy crops in Afghanistan. Present
at the workshop were dignitaries including H.E. Ghulam Mustafa Jawad (Technical Deputy
Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock) and Mr. Tekeste Tekie (FAO
Representative in Afghanistan).

Amongst important deliberations at the seminar was the risk often associated with possible
introduction of unknown plant pests into the country with disastrous consequences and the
need for effective plant quarantine measures to prevent the spread and introduction of pests of
plants and plant products. Effective control will require Afghanistan following international
protocols and harmonizing its plant protection legislation with provisions of the International
Plant Protection Convention (IPPC), which is a requirement for membership of the World
Trade Organization (WTO). The country’s new draft plant protection legislation embodies
important IPPC provisions amongst which is a key requirement for MAIL to designate a
National Plant Protection Organization (NPPO) that has the technical capacity to carryout
important functions such as integrated pest management, emergency pest control, pesticide
analysis, pest survey and surveillance and quarantine. Designating an appropriate institutional
arrangement for this purpose is a crucial decision that must be made in due course.

In defining future directions, the workshop discussed the main elements of a concept note
which has been developed with the aim of drawing the attention of donors to the need for
supporting Afghanistan in its longer term developmental efforts in enacting and enforcing the
new plant protection legislation, facilitating membership of IPPC and WTO, strengthening
essential services including laboratory facilities and providing relevant training and capacity
building opportunities.

It is hoped that this short-term TCP project has paved the way and created the needed
awareness about seed and plant health issues in Afghanistan as well as pointing in the right
direction for future development in this area.
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Ministry of Agriculture, Jamal Mina, Opposite Kabul University, Kabul, Afghanistan
Phone: + 93 (0) 700 169 297
Email: Shafi.ullah@fao.org
Website: www.fao.org