Afghanistan Food Suppliers

Overview

Afghanistan food market mainly depends on the import from neighbouring countries Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Iran for the commodities of wheat flour, pulses, oil and sugar. Afghanistan local production cannot meet the requirement and there is deficit of 1.3 million metric tons of wheat for the year 2017 and almost similar deficit for the years before. There are few provinces in west, north east and south west which have surplus wheat and it is sold to local traders and exported to the provinces where there is demand and need within Afghanistan. Afghanistan’s major food export is the dry fruit and fresh fruits mainly to India and Pakistan.

There is a number of strategic grain reserves available in the country with total capacity of 241,000 metric tons. The below table elaborates in details.

S/N	Province	Silo (MT)	Store (MT)
1	Kabul	50,000	22,000
2	Baghlan	40,000
3	Balkh	40,000	5,000
4	Hirat	20,000	2,000
5	Badakshan		6,000
6	Kunduz		5,000
7	Bamyan		5,000
8	Daikundi		5,000
9	Ghor		5,000
10	Ghazni		3,000
11	Badghis		5,000
12	Parwan		5,000
13	Nangarhar		10,000
14	Laghman		2,000
15	Takhar		2,000
16	Khost		1,000
17	Hilmand		8,000
Total		150,000	91,000

Statistics are approximate as Afghanistan border of trade for food commodities is very porous and is difficult to determine the actual import data. Based on the data from USDA the import of wheat and wheat flour was ranged between 0.5-2.5 MMT with highest in year 2008 (3.8 MMT) and 2011 (3 MMT). The government official data trend of wheat flour trade between Pakistan and Kazakhstan shows that in year 2003 up to year 2006/07 Afghanistan wheat flour market was fully dominated by Pakistan product, but since then it drastically declined in year 2008 and this trend continued and recently it was ranging between 20-30 percent of the wheat flour market. The official data of 4th quarter of 2016 shows that Pakistan occupies 30 percent of the total wheat and wheat flour market in Afghanistan for which Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan account for 67 percent. Which means that Afghanistan is benefiting from these competitions in term of wheat and wheat flour price stability and any sudden changes in export policy of Pakistan.

The province in table below are the one with surplus production where local procurement is feasible.

Province with surplus production
S.N.	Province
S.N.	Province
1	Baghlan
2	Takhar
3	Kunduz
4	Balkh
5	Jawzjan
6	Faryab
7	Samangan
8	Helmand
9	Herat

The current milling capacity is 1 MMT per year. In 2016, 0.1 MTT wheat grain was milled which is only 10 percent of the existing capacity. There is therefore more potential which could be used towards country self-sufficiency in term of milling capacity.
Additional information can be located from sources which are regularly maintained and reflect current facts and figures. For more specific and detailed overviews of food availability and market conditions, please consult the following sources:
WFP Vulnerability and Analysis Mapping (VAM):

http://vam.wfp.org/sites/mvam_monitoring/afghanistan.html

USAID Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET):

http://www.fews.net/es/central-asia/afghanistan

Retail Sector

Types of Retailers Available
Type of Retailer	Rank (1-5)
Supermarket – concentrates mainly in supplying a range of food, beverage, cleaning and sanitation products; have significant purchasing power; are often part of national/regional/global chains.	5 (There are only few of the supermarkets available in urban cities of Kabul, Kandahar, Nangarhar, Mazar and Hirat, these are like finest, kefayat etc)
Convenience Store/Mini Market – medium sized shop; offers a more limited range of products than supermarkets; usually has good/stable purchasing power; may be part of chain or cooperative.	3
Permanent shop with strong supply capacity – individually/family owned store; usually offers fewer commodities and a limited selection of brands; good storage and reliable supply options.	1
Permanent shop with limited supply capacity – individually/family owned store; offers fewer commodities and a limited selection of brands; limited storage and unstable supply options.	3
Mobile Shop/Market Stand – individually/family owned store; usually offers fewer commodities and a limited selection of brands; may be found at outdoor markets, camps or unstable environments.	3

Primary Goods / Commodities Available
Commodities by Type** (SITC Rev 4 Division Code - Title)		Comments
00 - Live animals (other than fish, crustaceans, molluscs, etc.)	Live small animals as sheep and goat in the country are available and even some are exported to other neighbouring countries mainly Pakistan and Iran. The availability of sheep and goat or supply mainly increase in Autumn as the male offspring’s are marketed. The country also import live animal like cattle and buffalos from Pakistan. Poultry production is limited, although there are some poultry farms exist in the country, but live poultry coming mainly through import from Pakistan.
01 - Meat and meat preparations	Meat of produced and processed locally - including poultry cattle, sheep and goat - is available in the country, but does not satisfy the demand.
02 - Dairy products and birds’ eggs	Locally produced dairy complement the imported product from manly Iran and Pakistan. Some government ran farms and private farms are present in the country, but does not fulfil the demand. Some dairy processing companies recently established.
03 - Fish (not marine mammals), crustaceans, molluscs…	Local produced natural and fish farming exist in the country, but at the very low capacity. Fish is mainly imported from Pakistan.
04 - Cereals and cereal preparations	Wheat is staple food in Afghanistan; local production is minor, compared to imported. Main sources are Kazakhstan, Pakistan and Turkmenistan.
05 - Vegetables and fruit	Locally cultivated vegetables complement the imported. Fresh and dry fruits and nut are cultivated for internal consumption and exportation.
06 - Sugars, sugar preparations and honey	Cultivation of sugarcane and sugar beet exists but for the internal request is reached through Pakistan importation.
07 - Coffee, tea, cocoa, spices and manufactures thereof	Afghanistan is not a big coffee consumer, nor coffee producer. Tea is widely used almost by all Afghan population and the source is purely import as local production is existent.
42/43 - Fixed vegetable fats and oils, crude, refined or fractionated	Vegetable oil is mainly imported, but some locally produced oil of oil seeds and olive oil are available in a limited amount in the country.

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