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Annual Farmer’s Day expo showcases produce in Kabul
Badam Bagh Gardens in Kabul city hosted a National Farmer’s Day expo as Afghans celebrated the day across the country on Monday.
Held every year – on the second day of Nawruz – National Farmers Day acknowledges and showcases goods and products that farmers in Afghanistan produce.
This year, officials and farmers reported that 1399 had been a fairly good year in terms of agricultural yield.
The minister of agriculture, irrigation and livestock (MAIL)
Anwarullhaq Ahadi, was upbeat about the development in this sector and said he hopes that within three years Afghanistan will become self-sufficient regarding certain produce.
“The last year was not a bad year for agriculture… in the upcoming three years Afghanistan will be self-sufficient in wheat, rice and chicken meat,” said Ahadi at the expo in Kabul.
The Afghan minister of trade and industries, Nisar Ahmad Ghoryani, also noted the growth in the sector and said Afghanistan exported produce and foodstuff to other countries worth millions of dollars in the past year.
“We have exports worth about $890 million dollars to other countries,” said Ghoryani.
Meanwhile, the expo attracted farmers from around the country who showcased domestic products.
But some said they still faced serious challenges.
“85 percent of farmers’ problems have not been solved so far and we are faced with problems,” said Azizullah, a farmer.
Traders also once again raised the issue of packaging and said Afghan products need to be packaged for export in accordance with international standards – something that was still not happening, they said.
The expo meanwhile this year boasts 258 stalls and will run over four days, officials said.
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US companies are welcome to join TAPI project: Turkmenistan’s ex-president
In an interview with Al Arabiya, former Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov said international companies, including United States firms, are welcome to join the Turkmenistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan–India (TAPI) gas pipeline project.
Berdymukhamedov noted that while the project enjoys U.S. support, it will need to navigate longstanding regional tensions, as Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India have seen outbreaks of deadly fighting over the past year.
“This project, which enjoys international support, including from the United States, possesses immense potential in meeting the growing energy needs of South Asian nations. It also opens promising avenues for accessing the emerging markets of the Asia-Pacific region, the Near East, and the Middle East,” he said.
“The TAPI project is also of paramount importance for political stability and economic prosperity, maintaining high investment attractiveness,” Berdymukhamedov added.
Turkmenistan plans to complete the first section of the pipeline, reaching the Afghan city of Herat, by the end of 2026. No plans have yet been announced to extend the project further south.
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UK’s Reform party pledges visa ban affecting Afghanistan and five other states
The British political party Reform UK, led by Nigel Farage, is set to impose a blanket visa ban on Afghanistan and five other countries — including Pakistan — as part of its proposed crackdown on illegal migration and states refusing to accept deported nationals.
In a speech set for Monday, the party’s newly appointed “shadow” home secretary, Zia Yusuf, will outline plans to halt all visas for diplomats, students, workers, VIPs and tourists from Pakistan, Somalia, Eritrea, Syria, Afghanistan and Sudan. Reform says these governments fail to cooperate in accepting back deported migrants and convicted criminals.
Pakistan received more than 160,000 UK visas last year, making it one of the biggest visa recipients. However, British officials say Islamabad accepts back only a small fraction of rejected asylum seekers and has resisted pressure to take back individuals convicted in high-profile criminal cases.
The move – which mirrors US President Donald Trump’s visa ban on 75 countries – would be a key element in Reform’s strategy to deport up to 288,000 illegal migrants from the UK on five charter flights a day.
On legal migration, Yusuf will say a Reform government would terminate all welfare payments to foreign nationals, including the 1.3 million currently receiving UC, up from around 900,000 in 2022.
Yusuf is expected to say that years of weak immigration enforcement have undermined public trust and that a Reform government would secure Britain’s borders and make people feel safe.
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Ex-US envoy Khalilzad condemns Pakistan air attacks on Afghanistan
He described the situation as a tragedy for both Pakistan and its neighbors, urging the Pakistani leadership to reconsider its policies and change course.
Former U.S. Special Envoy for Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, has strongly condemned Sunday’s airstrikes by Pakistan on Afghanistan. He stated that these attacks killed and wounded numerous innocent women, children, and elderly.
Khalilzad pointed to Pakistan’s long history of misgovernance, interference in minority rights, manipulation of democratic processes, and repeated military takeovers as the root causes.
He described the situation as a tragedy for both Pakistan and its neighbors, urging the Pakistani leadership to reconsider its policies and change course.
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