DASHT ROBAT, Afghanistan — U.S. assistance to Afghanistan often arrives in the form of cash, disbursed to local contractors through the Commander’s Emergency Response Program. But it also comes in the form of fertilizer spreaders, pesticide sprayers, shovels and rakes — and Midwestern common sense.
Perhaps nothing exemplifies the “Peace Corps with guns” approach to Afghanistan more than the U.S. Army’s Agribusiness Development Teams, or ADTs. As part of a relatively new experiment, Army National Guard volunteers from agricultural states have deployed here to train and advise Afghan farmers and agricultural officials on modern farming techniques and business practices. The first teams, fielded last year, were from Missouri and Texas; others have followed from places like Tennessee, Kansas and Indiana.
I recently spent time with the Nebraska National Guard’s ADT, which covers a sizeable chunk of north-central Afghanistan: Parwan, Kapisa, Bamiyan and Panjshir provinces. All of the team members, except one, are non-commissioned officers; in civilian life, they all work in agriculture or agribusiness. It’s an approach that seems to make sense: Military commanders can throw millions of dollars at their problems through reconstruction funding, but most are not trained development officers or engineers. All too often, money is poured into schools that can’t afford teachers, clinics that don’t have doctors, or roads that won’t be maintained.
