Baseline Study on Pine Nuts Industry in Khost City, Afghanistan

Abstract

This study was conducted on the pine nuts industry in the southeast of Afghanistan. This is a baseline study, which has conducted between May 2019 and December 2020. This study aims to provide essential information about the pine nuts industry, especially focused on the supply chain of pine nuts. A structured questionnaire has been used for the data collection to collect demographic information, and information regarding the pine nuts supply chain, pine nuts processing, challenges and opportunities, trade, and marketing, Due to the small size of the population, the census method was used. I interviewed directly the stakeholder and entrepreneurs who are working in the pine nuts industries; the interview has been conducted on local language (Pashto). Chilgoza plays an important role in the socio-economic development of rural societies existing nearby Chilgoza forests. Chilgoza pine forests not only provide pine nuts as a cash crop product but also provide fuelwood, medicinal plants, pasture, and shelter for livestock as well as environment habitat and other ecological services. Nuts of Chilgoza pine are highly valued, collected, and sold by local villagers is a good source of income for them. After extracting nuts from the cones, the owner, sells the empty cones to the people of Khost province of Afghanistan, usually used as fuelwood.