Arghand is comprised of 9 women and 7 men who, with Sarah's guidance,  have developed a truly cooperative business model in which risks and benefits are shared equally, decision-making is collective and women are fully integrated into production and management processes.

 

Four years into the project, Afghan members have assumed responsibility for all aspects of production, and their salaries are generated through the sale of its products. 

 

The cooperative is supported by a small North American staff whose primary focus is on distribution and administration. Donations to Arghand Trust are spent mostly on capital infrastructure investments, which are aimed at trying to expand the cooperative toward a sustainable level of self-sufficiency.

 

 

Arghand’s long-term objective is to contribute to the process of weaning southern Afghanistan off its dependence on opium poppy. This scourge is distorting the region’s economy, criminalizing its politics and putting its people at the mercy of armed gangs and so-called insurgents. Only by expanding the market for licit local agriculture, Arghand members believe, can the rural population be liberated from the grasp of opium. Arghand therefore works directly with local farmers for the provision of its raw materials and over time will be including them among its members. The idea is to bring these farmers a higher return for their produce by eliminating middlemen.  In recent years this goal has become somewhat elusive as the security situation has deteriorated to the point where villagers fear retaliation by “insurgents” if they are seen to have connections with anyone linked to foreign initiatives or the current government. Arghand also hopes to be a catalyst for new agricultural techniques – organic wherever possible and conservative of resources – as well as general know-how and equipment to participating farmers.