CNFA is bringing agriculture to an important underserved population in Afghanistan: women. Through the Afghanistan Farm Service Alliance, an innovative partnership between CNFA and USAID, Afghan women will be able to directly purchase the agricultural inputs and services they need to make their family farms more productive and profitable.

Social convention has long prevented women from purchasing their own farm inputs since most input supply stores are staffed entirely by men and are therefore not accessible to women. The Kabul Women’s Farm Service Center (FSC), however, will allow Afghan women the unique opportunity to take the reins to increasing agricultural production. Currently under construction, the new FSC is operated entirely by women, from sales staff to technical trainers. The store will empower female farmers through knowledge transfer and by increasing their roles in decision making and purchasing of productive assets.

The Kabul FSC is one of seven FSCs established throughout Afghanistan. All CNFA FSCs offer high-quality products like seed, fertilizer, animal feed, tools, machinery, and greenhouse supplies.

The Kabul FSC adds a special array of products targeted to women's traditional productive activities, including handicrafts, food curing and processing, charcoal making equipment, embroidery and sewing, jams and jellies, and baking. Like all CNFA FSCs, the Kabul store will provide services specifically designed for its clientele, including market access for widows and women’s groups, tractors and other machinery for lease, product distribution & sales in remote areas, and specialized training for women in agriculture, food processing and handicrafts. Women will also be trained in the safe use and application of pesticides.

Funded through a matching grant program, this first new women’s store will benefit over 10,000 Afghan women, and it will serve as the prototype for several women's FSCs located throughout Afghanistan. Sales from this store, which will be completed in the next two months, already exceed $500,000, and it has provided 15 new jobs. Benefitting more than 41,000 Afghan households, the seven CNFA FSCs have created 237 jobs, trained more than 14,000 people and have sales that total $22.8 million.