Mr. Mahboob Shah’s Success Story in Agriculture and Livestock Business:

Mr. Mahboob Shah is a resident of Dooghabad village of Engil district of Herat province. He is 49 years old. He is the only breadwinner of a family of ten and is working in agriculture and livestock keeping.

Mr. Shah being covered by the SNaPP2 project of Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation, and Livestock – MAIL in 2017, has been a leading farmer in his village. He narrates his success story in vegetable farming and animal husbandry as bellow:

"Like my neighbors and other villagers of Dooghabad, we received training, improved seeds of vegetables, fertilizers, agricultural and livestock kits for onion, corn, okra etc.”

He added that through the training he has received from the program, as well as the improved seeds and kits, the quality and quantity of his products has been improved drastically. He further elaborates that before the project intervention, he did not have interest on cultivation of vegetable crops and did not even have enough professional knowledge so he couldn’t make good income for better livelihood. Therefore, he would have achieved 80% less than the current income, and was unhappy with vegetable crops cultivation.

Being supported by SNaPP2 projects, Mr. Mahboob Shah, now feels more successful and happy in vegetable crops cultivation. He says that apart from his family consumption of vegetables as food security, he now earns 500 AFN per day on average and 15,000 AFN per month, and this income will last for at least five months during the harvest season.

In the livestock sector, Mr. Mahboob Shah has two cows and three calves. He has also received training in the field of cattle management, milking, milk hygiene, and so on. He also received milking supplies, improved forage seeds and a forage chopping machine. He also has achievements in the livestock sector: for example, he says his cows' milk has been increased.

Since the project has facilitated contract farming between farmers and milk processing company, now he supplies 12 liter milk to milk collection center daily and receives around 10,000 AFN per month from selling surplus milk.

Summing up his talk, Mr. Mahboob Shah says that he can make a good livelihood from vegetables and save his incomes from livestock keeping for emergency expenses and investment.

Mr. Mahboob shah, being a leading farmer and livestock keeper, has become a role model for other villagers and even residents of neighboring villages. Farmers and livestock keepers visit his farm to learn from him and copy his knowledge of farming and cattle management.

When asked about his future plans, Mahboob Shah said, "He plans to grow vegetables, especially tomato, eggplant, onions, okra and other vegetables, and to boost his agribusiness. Further he would like to increase his cow’s number to make a change for the better.