Page "Economy of Afghanistan" Paragraph 11

Much of Afghanistan's livestock was removed from the country by early waves of refugees who fled to neighboring Pakistan and Iran.

In 2001, the livestock population in Afghanistan had declined by about 40 % since 1998.

In 2002, this figure was estimated to have declined further to 60 %.

An FAO survey done in the northern regions in spring 2002 showed that in four provinces ( Balkh, Juzjan, Sar-e Pol, and Faryab ), there was a loss of about 84 % of cattle from 1997 to 2002 and around 80 % of sheep and goat.

The great majority of Afghans traditionally raise sheep instead of goats because goat meat is not popular in Afghanistan.

After 2000, the Afghan ministry of agriculture and livestock and USAID have been helping to regrow the number of livestocks throughout the country.

This is done by providing Afghan villagers training and animals to start with.

The Agriculture Minister Mohammad Asif Rahimi stated that over the past decade arable land had increased from 2. 1 million hectares to 8. 1 million hectares, wheat production from 5. 1 million tonnes to 2. 3 million tonnes, nurseries from 75, 000 hectares to 119, 000 hectares and grape production from 364, 000 tonnes to 615, 000 tonnes.