Kabul, Afghanistan – Exporters of Afghan high-value food showcased their products for international buyers from February 17 to 21 at the Gulfood Exhibition, the world’s largest food and beverage trade show.

About 27 businesses displayed Afghanistan’s finest fruits, saffron, nuts, spices, vegetables, and juices at the five-day trade show. Another 25 non-exhibiting businesses attended meetings with prospective buyers and negotiated deals. Afghan businesses inked $104.8 million in signed and potential deals for Afghan high-value agriculture products, a 400 percent increase from last year’s $27 million dollar revenue.

The event provided Nawid Mohsini, the CEO of King Saffron, the opportunity to connect with overseas retail buyers. “Our goal is to move away from wholesale and into the retail market,” he said. “We are currently in negotiations with a buyer with the Carrefour retail chain. Having our saffron on supermarket shelves is where we want to be.”

This is the ninth consecutive year that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is supporting the participation of Afghan traders at Gulfood, considered the world’s largest annual food and hospitality show. Now in its 24th year, the event comprised one million square feet of exhibition space for 5,000 exhibitors from the foodservices and hospitality industries. Last year’s exhibition saw more than 98,000 visitors from 193 countries.

Participation at Gulfood comes on the heels of successful USAID-supported events in New Delhi and Mumbai in India, and Almaty in Kazakhstan. In 2018, Afghan agribusinesses signed $278 million in contracts for Afghan agricultural products.

USAID’s Commercial Horticultural and Agricultural Marketing Program, Regional Agricultural Development Programs (North and East), Afghanistan Value Chains - High Value Crops, and Livestock and Promoting Value Chains - West supported Afghanistan’s participation in Gulfood this year.

With almost $17 billion spent on development programs in Afghanistan since 2002, USAID provides the largest bilateral civilian assistance program to Afghanistan. USAID partners with the government and people of Afghanistan to ensure economic growth led by the country’s private sector, to establish a democratic and capable state governed by the rule of law, and to provide basic health and education services for all Afghans.

• Press Release - Afghan Agricultural Exports Attract Investors at Gulfood 2019 (Dari)
• Press Release - Afghan Agricultural Exports Attract Investors at Gulfood 2019 (Pashto)