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Success Story
Smoother roads and
decreased travel
time prompt market
expansion and
economic growth
Cashing in on Improved Roads in Baharak
Photo: USAID/David DeVoss
Baharak Bazaar vegetable trader Faiz
Mohammad (left) has enjoyed brisk sales
since the completion of USAID’s road
building campaign.
“Sales are up 80 percent
because of better roads,”
explained Faiz Mohammad,
a Baharak vegetable
seller. “Now we’re real
entrepreneurs, businessmen
who are even starting to
export.”
Several years ago, there were only three produce merchants in
the Baharak Bazaar, a market in Afghanistan’s remote northern
province of Badakhshan. Today, there are 30 traders selling fresh
fruits and vegetables. Farmers are growing more diverse crops
and enjoying larger harvests as they take advantage of lower
transportation costs resulting from a massive USAID program to
build and improve roads.
Just last year, most farmers were transporting their crops to market
on rutted dirt roads. The trip from small farming villages to Baharak
was long and rough, which spoiled and damaged produce to the
point that it could not be sold. These unforgiving logistics reduced
profi ts signifi cantly, and many farmers simply didn’t take vegetables
to market, preferring to trade them in a village barter economy. The
vegetables that made it to market were very expensive due to the
high costs of transportation.
New roads have completely changed the situation, allowing farmers
to bring their produce to market in a quick and affordable manner.
Today, a smoother, realigned road between Baharak and the
district center of Shohada has reduced travel time by 45 minutes.
The drive from the village of Shashpol to Baharak takes only 20
minutes, down from 1.5 hours. Before the Shashpol road was
improved, a farmer had to pay $40 to get his crop to market in an
all-terrain vehicle or endure a long, bumpy donkey ride. Now the
same trip can be made in a car for $4, transporting crops safely and
efficiently.
As a result, merchants in the Baharak Bazaar now sell a wide
variety of grains, vegetables, nuts, and fruit. The market for
walnuts and cherries is so strong that they have become export
commodities – and improved roads allow farmers and merchants to
sell increasing amounts of these profi table crops.
This year, Baharak merchants will send 2,000 tons of walnuts to
both Kabul and overseas markets – a huge increase from the 270
tons sold to Kabul last year.
“Sales are up 80 percent because of better roads,” explained
Faiz Mohammad, a Baharak vegetable seller. “Now we’re real
entrepreneurs, businessmen who are even starting to export.”
In Afghanistan, good roads are making the difference between
subsistence farming and economic success.
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