19 SEPTEMBER 2011 | BALKH, AFGHANISTAN

 

Agriculture is an important sector in Afghanistan that employs most of the Afghan population in rural areas. In addition to other agricultural products, Afghans produce high quality tomatoes that are mostly consumed fresh, or dried for future consumption. There are only a few cold storage facilities that can keep the seasonal product fresh for future consumption.

 

Sadat Tomato Paste Company is one of the few Afghan companies that have the ability to process the tomatoes to other products. The company started tomato paste production in Mazar-i Sharif, but used old machinery and equipment for production, and had poor quality storage for its raw materials. It also lacked proper financial management systems to keep track of its costs and revenues. Because of these issues, Sadat’s production capacity was low and it could not meet the demand for tomato paste in northern Afghanistan.

 

Through a public-private partnership, USAID provided a $120,000 grant to Sadat to help the company upgrade its machinery and its production facility, increase its production capacity, and improve the quality of its products. In addition, Sadat used the grant to construct a cold storage facility that can keep its raw inputs in good condition, and to upgrade its financial system that enables it to better track its costs and revenues.

 

"Prior to USAID’s support, Sadat had only 31 employees," said Sayed Arif Qarizada, the owner of Sadat Tomato Paste Company. "Now, we employ 100 employees including 26 women. Our production capacity has increased from 8,000 bottles of paste to 18,000 bottles per shift (two shifts per day) and our monthly sales have doubled from approximately $200,000 to $400,000. We have also improved our administration, finance, and marketing systems."