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Saffron offers jobs, tackles drug problem in Afghanistan

Thursday, 24 November 2016 3:02 AM [ Last Update: Thursday, 24 November 2016 3:04 AM ]

Afghan women collect saffron flowers in the Karukh district of Herat, Afghanistan, November 5, 2016. © Reuters

Afghanistan’s booming saffron industry is raising hope for an economy that has been struggling with prolonged difficulties for decades.

Afghan saffron industry is helping the country’s economy both directly through offering jobs and opportunities and indirectly by tackling issues such as the drug problem.

Most saffron workers are women who don’t have many other job options. They partake in different steps of the process from picking the delicate flowers to ultimately packing the final product.

The industry also helps Afghanistan by replacing opium cultivation which will in turn reduce the country’s drug problem. Afghanistan’s saffron is in high demand and exported to countries from France to Turkey, India and the United States.

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