There is a business leader in Afghanistan under the Taliban regime who employs hundreds of women in her saffron fields and has vowed to speak out for their rights, and “not remain silent.”
Many female entrepreneurs have been forced to flee or go into hiding since the hardliners came to power in the middle of August.
In the years 1996 to 2001, women were effectively barred from attending school or working and could only leave the house with a male relative. Many now fear that brutally oppressive rule will return.
Shafiq Attai, the owner of a saffron business in the western city of Herat, said, “We will raise our voice so that it reaches their ears.”
Even if something bad happens, we will not sit at home and wait for it to happen again.
As the saying goes, “We will not remain silent.”
Attai’s company, the Pashtun Zarghon Saffron Women’s Company, manufactures, processes, packages, and exports the world’s most expensive spice with a workforce that is almost entirely female.
More than a thousand women in Herat Province’s Pashtun Zarghon district, which borders Iran, pick the brightly colored crocuses on the company’s 25 hectares (60 acres) of land.
In addition, the Attai collective for female saffron pickers, which is represented by union leaders, owns 55 hectares of privately owned land.
It allows them to send their children to school, buy clothing, and other necessities for them, according to Attai who believes that employing women helps their families financially.
The 40-year-old entrepreneur says, “I worked extremely hard to build my business.” “Sitting quietly, we don’t want to be ignored by others. If they ignore us, we won’t be silent.”
as an alternative to opium
Farmers in Afghanistan were encouraged by the ousted, Western-backed government to grow the spice, which is used in dishes ranging from biryani to paella, to wean them off of the country’s massive and problematic poppy industry.
Despite this, the country is the world’s largest producer of opium and heroin, responsible for 80-90% of global output.
Critics say the Taliban destroyed much of the opium crop during their previous reign, ostensibly to eradicate it, but they did so to increase the value of their massive stockpiles. The Taliban used opium sales to fund their insurgency.
Because of global poverty and instability, more people are turning to grow poppies. Afghanistan’s production area has grown four times since 2002, according to the UN.
In other words, “Red Gold.”
Herat Province produces almost all of Afghanistan’s saffron.
More than $5,000 per kilogram (2.2 pounds) is spent on saffron, the world’s most expensive spice, and Attai’s company produces 200 to 500 kilograms per year.
Because of its high value, the flower’s pistol has been dubbed “red gold” by those who depend on its cultivation. It has been used for centuries in cooking, perfumes, medicines, and tea, as well as an aphrodisiac.
During October and November, hordes of workers, many of whom are women in their fifties and sixties, pick the bright purple saffron flowers before they wilt in the late afternoon sun.
Afterward, laborers must focus and use skill to separate the delicate lilac leaves, vibrant red stigmas, and pale yellow stamens.
‘Difficult work,’ says the speaker.
Besides the future of her company, Attai worries about the fate of Afghan women who are unsure about their employment, education, and government representation.
“We are worried that the Islamic Emirate government will obstruct our work now that they have arrived,” she said.
“I’m worried about what will happen,” she added, “because they haven’t allowed girls to go back to school or university, and they haven’t given any women government positions.”
There are some of my employees who are the sole breadwinners in their families,” she said. “I’m not just thinking about myself; I’m thinking about all those who rely on this business to run [their] homes.”
“I am worried that the 20 years of hard work put in by these women will be in vain.”
In other words, it ‘cannot be ignored’
Especially in cities like Herat, many women rose to positions of power in the two decades that followed the US-led overthrow of the Taliban in 2001.
While the city has long been an important commercial crossroads near the Iran-Turkmenistan border, many of the city’s businesswomen have recently left.
When asked by AFP about the possibility that “women could come back and do business under this government as well,” Younes Qazizadeh, the head of the city’s chamber of commerce, expressed his hope.
For the time being, companies like Attai’s are on thin ice.
This will help re-establish women’s businesses in our country, says Qazizadeh.
For the time being, Attai intends to remain in her native country, as she still has “some hope” that her company will be successful.
Before the US withdrew, a massive airlift evacuated 124,000 people from Kabul’s airport.
“I also had the choice to leave. However, I refused to go because our efforts should not be in vain “Attai made the following statement.
She went on to say of the Taliban, “I don’t believe they will stymie our efforts.”
“There isn’t a single man who has the guts to oppose the fact that our company is run and staffed entirely by women. No one can ignore a woman who has shoveled her fields around the clock.”