In Herat province, two very different crops are quietly reshaping what economic life looks like for thousands of Afghan women. In Zindajan district, women are rearing silkworms in their own homes. Ninety kilometres away in Ghoryan, others are coaxing saffron crocuses out of drought-hardened soil. Together, the two activities sit at the heart of the ITL Silk and Saffron project.
Now that the project has come to an end, an independent evaluation has been conducted to assess its impact. The evaluation drew on hundreds of household surveys and interviews with project participants, offering a rare, detailed look at what two very different livelihoods can achieve in one of the world's most restrictive operating environments for women. These stories of change are summarised in the project documentary video below.
Silk Production
5119 women benefitted from the physical inputs, support and training to start silk production. The benefit for those who engaged with this activity is that the work happens entirely indoors. Women manage the feeding and rearing themselves, while a male relative typically brings in the mulberry leaves from outside - a division of labour that lets the whole enterprise run in a way which align with current cultural restrictions.
By the end of the project, 81% of women reported higher household income since the project began, and 93% are still practising what they learned.
After a hard winter, one month’s income from silkworm rearing helps us pay off our debts. Before the project we could not cover all our needs; now we can buy food and school supplies for our children.
Shahnaz Haidari, a returnee from Iran who arrived home in Langar village with few prospects, is one example of where that first box of silkworm eggs can lead. After learning to rear silkworms in her own home, she was elected deputy of the local rearing association and now mentors other women taking up the activity for the first time.
My situation today is much better than before the project. I now provide for my family through this work.
Saffron Production
In Ghoryan, 118 women received saffron bulbs, toolkits and training in cultivation, harvesting and drying. Saffron takes three to five years to reach full productivity, and bulbs need time to multiply before yields build. Even though most growers are still early in that curve, around 36% are already seeing an income increase. The shift in confidence and control is particularly striking. Every single respondent said the training was very useful and that they are still practising what they learned, up from just 8% before the project began.
Because the land, bulbs and harvest are registered to the women themselves, 63% now personally control the income their saffron generates. Arefa Mohammadi’s story shows where that can lead. A widow and sole provider for seven children in Qala-e-Johar village, she once earned little labouring on other families’ land. With her own saffron field, a standardised drying machine and links to the district growers’ union, she now sells at a fairer price than intermediaries ever offered and employs and mentors several widows and returnee women on her own land.
Room to Grow
Like any pilot testing something new, the project has surfaced a few clear lessons alongside its successes. The biggest is market access: most silk cocoons and a good share of saffron still pass through middlemen before reaching a fair price, and when the Iran border closed this year, cocoon prices dropped sharply overnight.
Herat's drought is a constant backdrop too (mulberry leaves grow thinner in dry years, and saffron flowering is sensitive to rainfall) though both crops were chosen precisely because they cope better than most. However this does highlight the value of adding in a further complementary income source such as poultry rearing to further mitigate the impacts of seasonal variability.
None of this dims what women in Zindajan and Ghoryan have built. As a piece of proof-of-concept work, the project has shown these livelihoods can succeed even in one of the world's most restrictive contexts. However it also points to further opportunities for RAADA to build on the progress that has been made.
Sustainable impact
Across both districts, the acceptance data is striking: 94% of the 240 women surveyed reported full household support for their participation, and 96% reported no negative social consequences at all. Elders were reported as openly supportive or, at worst, neutral. Furthermore 84% of silkworm rearers and every saffron grower surveyed believe the skills and inputs they have gained will continue to benefit them without further support.
Beyond the direct results for participants, the project has generated valuable learning for Christian Aid on how to deliver development programming effectively in one of the most restrictive operating environments in the world - designing activities that work within, rather than against, social and mobility constraints, while still producing measurable economic and empowerment outcomes. This is evidence Christian Aid can share with other agencies considering how to move beyond humanitarian support in the country.