Afghanistan's Gem Hunters | Afghan Scene Magazine - Asia-Africa ...

sceneAfghan Scene December 2009 sceneAfghan Scene December 2009NOT SO SAFE: A length of wood holds up a tunnelconditions by burrowing horizontally intothe mountains and then down vertical shaftswith ‘supportive’ structures built from debris,branches and twigs.The situation became a little more organisedin the 1970s with greater governmentinvolvement, but the situation today is stillcharacterised by poor techniques, little trainingand dangerous working conditions.Although the precious stone and gemsindustry provided an important source ofrevenue during the recent years of war with theSoviet Union and then the Taliban, the businessis a fraction of its former self.In 2008, total (legal) exports of all productsfrom Afghanistan were just over $600m. Ifproper support is provided, within five yearsthe gemstone industry alone could exportover $300m a year. The country is currentlyexploiting only a fraction of the potential ofthis sector. There is almost no “value added” inAfghanistan. Most cutting, polishing, jewellerymanufacturing, wholesaling and retailing, takesplace outside Afghanistan, which is a significantloss for the country, as processing and polishingcan add up to 40 per cent to the value of uncutstones, with finished jewellery adding a further20 per cent and direct to market retail sales afurther 60 per cent. Miners are currently makingvery little return on capital and effort employed,sometimes mining for months at a time andfinding nothing.A concerted effort is underway to mapuntapped mineral resources in Badakhshan andhelp local people in a number of ways to makemore out of their natural resources.The Rupani Foundation and GTZ are amongthe aid organisations currently active in theprovince supporting gem-cutting training. Andthe Aga Khan Development Network is exploringways to upgrade Afghanistan’s gemstonesector by restoring the “mines to market” valuechain, through a combination of improvedtraining courses, equipment supply, publicprivatepartnerships, export market linkages,strengthened industry infrastructure and privatesector associations. Such strategies could helpto boost profits for the industry by over 120 percent.Using a country’s natural resources and thelocals’ own skills to break cycles of povertymakes perfect development sense, but there is ahuge amount that has to be done first.The University of Kabul and KabulPolytechnic run rudimentary mining courseswith poor facilities and no laboratory. They arebegging for teachers and for basic equipmentsuch as microscopes. International fundsneed to be invested in teacher-training,better university-level mining departments,technical on-site training for miners. TrainingSTICKS AND STONES: Lapis miners working in difficult conditionsin gemmology, gem-cutting and jewellery isrequired in all mining regions to bring thevalue-added back to the communities that mostneed it, and create employment for thousandsmore Afghan men and women.Gemstone mining and associated businesseshave the potential to bring sustainable incometo men and women in rural areas that arecurrently vulnerable to extreme poverty. Theveteran Afghan gem-hunter Gary Bowersoxestimated that for every mine job created inAfghanistan, up to 90 additional jobs could becreated to support the value chain. Even halfof this would have an enormous impact oneconomic growth in Badakshan and across thecountry. Sophia Swire is an independent business development consultant who has beenliving in Kabul for the past 2 years (and working in the region for 20). She setup the Jewellery and Gem-Cutting school at Turquoise Mountain, developed anational gemstone strategy for USAID (DAI-ASMED) and is currently workingwith the Aga Khan Foundation on a value-chain analysis for Badakshan’s lapisresources22Afghan Scene December 2009www.afghanscene.comwww.afghanscene.comAfghan Scene December 200923