This success story written by Taryn Devereux, a Gender in agriculture specialist , is part of the "Young women and Youth's Gender Perspectives in Agricultural Development" series that spotlight young professionals' experiences for women's empowerment in agricultural development. From research to private sector, mass media to civil society work, YPARD 2015 Gender series features, every month, young "gender champions" from different regions of the world. This series is part of YPARD work as special youth catalyst in the GAP : Gender in Agriculture Partnership.
I write this post from Kabul, Afghanistan, where I am currently working for the next few weeks on behalf of the University of Maryland for their Women in Agriculture (WIA) program, which is part of a consortium of universities that run the USAID-funded Afghanistan Agricultural Extension Project (AAEP-II). I’ve been here less than a week and have already visited a demonstration garden in Kabul, traveled to another project site in Balkh to visit Farmer Field Schools (FFS) and the women who run them, experienced my first earthquake, met with the AAEP-II and USAID leadership based here in Afghanistan, and talked to WIA team members and female Afghan extension agents about their experiences with the program. This is the pace of WIA, and it speaks to the drive and dedication of the team.
