Agricultural High school building in Mazar-e Sharif, Afghanistan
In spring 2008 an additional building comprising the Balkh University Faculty of Agriculture building complex in Mazar-e Sharif was already under construction.
As early as the beginning of 2007 we took first steps to start the construction work of a vocational school of agriculture building and a dormitory in Mazar-e Sharif. We drew up a detailed building project in co-operation with our long-time partners: VUSAF, an Afghan NGO, and Afghanistan-Schulen, a German NOGO (www.afghanistan-schulen.de). Furthermore, the Association Education for Peace (EfP) concluded a special agreement with Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW), the leading academic institution of this kind in Poland, according to which SGGW was going to its extend its patronage over the project, as well as other projects implemented by EfP in the field of agricultural education in Afghanistan. The idea of the patronage is to pave way for the transfer of specialist knowledge, up-to-date agricultural and teaching technologies, as well as to facilitate the exchange of professional experience.
Prepared even more thoroughly than all our past educational projects, the present project was submitted to the FOREIGN AID 2008 competition organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland for financial support. Unfortunately, the Ministry declined to subsidise it.
Eventually, it was the German government that partially funded the school building. The credit for winning the financial support goes to our German partner, Afghanistan-Schulen, which, along with the Afghan VUSAF organization, is now responsible for the implementation of the project. We are very happy that our common efforts were not in vain, as we have finally managed to receive grants for this important project. The bad news is we have not been able to obtain any grants for the dormitory building project so far.
Agricultural High School in Mazar-e Sharif was opened in 1977. Since then it has remained the only higher education institution in the entire region of northern Afghanistan. 2000 students from 4 different departments have graduated from Agricultural High School. At the beginning of 2008 classes were attended by 161 students, including several girls, although these figures were hardly satisfying – governmental programmes envisage at least 350 places for students. There are 14 lecturers employed at the High School. The old school building has become too small for all students to find room for themselves, hence the necessity to rebuild it and to build a dormitory for countryside students.
It is common knowledge that Afghan economy relies on agriculture. Therefore educating specialists in the field of agriculture is a matter of primary importance for the entire country. What it also means is that it is the Afghan society that will benefit from the project in the long run, as an increase in the number of educated farmers should not only improve the condition of Afghan agriculture and boost agricultural production, but will also encourage farming crops alternative to opium poppy.
Having acquired specialized agricultural knowledge, including knowledge about diverse crops and economic management of farms and agricultural production, future farmers graduating from Agricultural High School in Mazar-e Sharif will be able to promote farming alternatives to opium poppy growing, teach rural people how to make agricultural production more effective and less expensive, and spread knowledge on efficient water resources management. The project will also contribute indirectly to agricultural production growth and to reduction of famine. It is but regrettable that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland decided not to support a project of such significance.
