Afghan women grow trees to lift their own lives

Young plants have been weeded and watered and brought to life in this tough terrain by some of the poorest women of Qalat in Afghanistan who are reaching for more in a harsh world at risk to their personal safety. Almonds and apricots, cedar and cypress, pine and pistachio: a lot rides on these 203,720 saplings. The 90 women who raise them are paid with 61 kilogrammes (134 pounds) of oil, wheat, pulses and salt a month as a part of a "food for work" programme on which many Qalat families depend. Their labour also earns them lessons in reading and writing, nutrition and health care for some the first schooling in their lives. When the saplings are ready for planting, half will go to adopt-a-tree and other projects to re-green this barren-looking land, perhaps helping to re-establish the almond orchards that are the pride of Zabul. The rest will go to the women to seed small businesses selling the trees or their harvest, or just to provide their families with fruit and nuts. The project is part of the UN-backed Green Afghanistan Initiative (GAIN).