KABUL — Dengan musim menuai safron sedang berlangsung di Afghanistan, peniaga tempatan menjangkakan hasil yang lebih baik berbanding tahun-tahun sebelumnya, mencetuskan harapan bahawa eksport tanaman berharga itu, yang dikenali tempatan sebagai “emas merah,” akan membantu meningkatkan ekonomi negara yang terjejas.
Afghanistan ialah pengeluar safron kedua terbesar di dunia, selepas Iran.
Pada Jun, Institut Rasa Antarabangsa berpangkalan di Belgium menamakan safron Afghan sebagai yang terbaik di dunia bagi tahun kesembilan berturut-turut.
Safron adalah rempah yang paling mahal di dunia, dijual sekitar $2,000 sekilogram. Eksportnya menyediakan mata wang asing kritikal kepada Afghanistan, di mana sekatan dikenakan AS telah menjejaskan ekonomi dengan teruk sejak Taliban mengambil alih pada 2021.
Dengan hasil safron tahun ini dijangka melebihi 50 tan – kira-kira dua kali ganda daripada musim 2023 dan 2022 – kerajaan dan Kesatuan Safron Kebangsaan Afghanistan sedang berusaha untuk meningkatkan eksport.
“Tuaian safron tahun ini bagus. Dalam tempoh sembilan bulan pertama (tahun 2024), Afghanistan mengeksport sekitar 46 tan safron ke negara yang berbeza,” kata jurucakap Kementerian Perindustrian dan Perdagangan Abdulsalam Jawad Akhundzada kepada Arab News (AN).
“Di mana-mana peniaga kami ingin mengeksport safron, kami menyokong mereka melalui koridor udara dan memudahkan penyertaan peniaga Afghanistan dalam pameran nasional dan antarabangsa.”
Dikenali telah ditanam selama sekurang-kurangnya 2,000 tahun, safron sangat sesuai dengan iklim kering Afghanistan, terutama di Herat, di mana 90 peratus safron Afghanistan dihasilkan.
Kebanyakan perdagangan safron juga berpusat di wilayah itu, yang hujung minggu lalu merasmikan Pusat Dagangan Safron Antarabangsanya bagi memudahkan eksport.
“Pusat baharu itu telah ditubuhkan mengikut piawaian global dan akan membawa syarikat pemprosesan dan perdagangan utama ke satu tempat, menyediakan satu tempat untuk petani memperdagangkan produk mereka dalam keadaan terbaik,” Mohammad Ibrahim Adil, ketua Kesatuan Safron Kebangsaan Afghanistan, memberitahu AN.
Pasaran eksport utama kesatuan itu ialah India, di mana safron adalah bahan biasa dalam makanan, diikuti oleh GCC (negara teluk) — terutama Arab Saudi dan UAE.
“Eksport safron membawa mata wang asing yang sangat diperlukan ke Afghanistan, menyumbang dengan ketara kepada penstabilan kitaran kewangan di negara itu,” kata Qudratullah Rahmati, timbalan ketua kesatuan safron.
Kesatuan itu menganggarkan safron menyumbang kira-kira $100 juta kepada ekonomi Afghanistan setahun.
Kira-kira 95 peratus pekerja dalam industri safron adalah wanita, menurut kesatuan itu.
“Pengeluaran safron menyokong banyak keluarga, terutama wanita, semasa fasa penuaian dan pemprosesan melalui peluang pekerjaan jangka pendek dan panjang. Terdapat sekitar 80-85 syarikat safron berdaftar di Herat. Yang kecil menggaji empat hingga lima orang manakala yang lebih besar mempunyai sehingga 80 kakitangan tetap,” jelas Rahmati.
Menuai safron adalah kerja yang sukar dan memakan masa. Bunga-bunga itu dipetik sendiri, dan stigma oren kecilnya dipisahkan untuk dikeringkan. Kira-kira 440,000 stigma diperlukan untuk menghasilkan satu kilogram rempah wangi.
Musim menuai biasanya bermula pada Oktober atau November dan berlangsung hanya beberapa minggu.
AN
Afghanistan bets on ‘red gold’ for global market presence
KABUL – With the saffron harvest season underway in Afghanistan, local traders are expecting better yields than in previous years, sparking hopes that exports of the precious crop, known locally as “red gold,” will help improve the country’s battered economy.
Afghanistan is the world’s second-largest saffron producer, after Iran. In June, the Belgium-based International Taste Institute named Afghan saffron as the world’s best for the ninth consecutive year.
Saffron is the world’s most expensive spice, selling for around $2,000 per kilogram. Its exports provide critical foreign currency to Afghanistan, where US-imposed sanctions have severely affected the economy since the Taliban took control in 2021.
With this year’s saffron yield expected to exceed 50 tons — roughly double that of the 2023 and 2022 seasons — the government and the Afghanistan National Saffron Union are looking to boost exports.
“The harvest of saffron this year is good. During the first nine months (of 2024), Afghanistan exported around 46 tons of saffron to different countries,” Abdulsalam Jawad Akhundzada, spokesperson at the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, told Arab News. “Everywhere our traders want to export saffron we support them through air corridors and facilitating the participation of Afghan traders in national and international exhibitions.”
Known to have been cultivated for at least 2,000 years, saffron is well suited to Afghanistan’s dry climate, especially in Herat, where 90 percent of Afghan saffron is produced. Most saffron trading is also centered in the province, which last weekend inaugurated its International Saffron Trade Center to facilitate exports.
“The new center has been established in accordance with global standards and will bring major processing and trade companies to one place, providing a single venue for farmers to trade their products in the best possible conditions,” Mohammad Ibrahim Adil, head of the Afghanistan National Saffron Union, told Arab News.
The union’s main export market is India, where saffron is a common ingredient in food, followed by the GCC — especially Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
“Saffron exports bring much-needed foreign currency to Afghanistan, contributing significantly to stabilization of the financial cycle in the country,” said Qudratullah Rahmati, the saffron union’s deputy head.
The union estimates that saffron contributes about $100 million to the Afghan economy a year.
Around 95 percent of the workers in the saffron industry are women, according to the union.
“Saffron production is supporting many families, especially women, during the harvest and processing phase through short- and long-term employment opportunities. There are around 80-85 registered saffron companies in Herat. The small ones employ four to five people while the bigger ones have up to 80 permanent staff,” Rahmati explained.
Harvesting saffron is difficult and time-consuming work. The flowers are handpicked, and their tiny orange stigmas are separated for drying. Roughly 440,000 stigmas are needed to produce one kilogram of the fragrant spice.
The harvest season usually begins sometime in October or November and lasts just a few weeks.
AN