Having been the first company to bear the Fairtrade mark in the UK for their spices, their firm ethical beliefs have lead them to discover a women’s association in Afghanistan that’s promoting saffron growing as a viable alternative to opium growing. This provides a legitimate and sustainable future for Afghan women and their families.
Steenbergs supplies three varieties of saffron: Fairtrade from Iran, and organic and non-organic from Spain. Although Negin saffron from the Afghanistan Women Saffron Association (AWSA) is neither organic nor Fairtrade, Steenbergs believe strongly in the ethical benefits of promoting this excellent product.
“When I read about the initiative to encourage and empower women to grow saffron rather than supporting the illegal production of opiates, I felt compelled to get in touch with them,” said Axel Steenberg, who founded Steenbergs 10 years ago with his wife Sophie. “We then received a shipment of Negin Saffron, and were delighted to find that it is top quality sargol saffron without adulteration. It has a deep ruby red colour from the plethora of stigma with a fragrant damask rose aroma.”
Negin Saffron is the brand name of AWSA, which was set up by social entrepreneur Ms Sima Gharvani in 2008 in the Herat region of Afghanistan. It aims to promote fair pay, increasing quality and sustainability and has already secured development aid for fertilisers, bulbs, harvest baskets and training.
There are few employment opportunities in rural Afghan societies for women, especially women-headed households, so with the help of this association they are now able to benefit from the advantages of growing saffron rather than poppies: with greater yields, more money per acre, less labour and less water, which is increasingly important due to recurring droughts. ??Currently, 93% of the world’s opiate is produced in Afghanistan, providing $3.1bn in export value and 46% of Afghanistan’s GDP (source: Jeffrey Clemens, Harvard). Opium production is focused in Taliban-controlled areas and is a main source of funding for them. However, farmers in the Herat Region, close to the border with Iran, are now electing to grow saffron instead. It suits the semi-desert and rugged ecology of Afghanistan, is morally accepted by Islamic law, legally accepted by the Afghan government and – importantly for farmers – is far more lucrative.
Perhaps with this type of international exposure, we will be sipping our saffron tea and savouring our saffron-infused paella with a little more thought to the people who produce it. But most of all, we can enjoy the delicious, fragrant pleasures of the world’s most expensive spice knowing we are helping women in difficult circumstances make a decent living.
Source: Jeffrey Clemens, Harvard.
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