A typical Afghan village will include trees bearing nuts and fruit; fields of grain and vegetables; walled gardens and orchards; flocks of ducks and geese; and goats, sheep, cows, oxen, horses, and donkeys for meat, milk, and farm power. Ancient irrigation systems often bring water dozens of miles to water fields.

Women sow seeds in an Afghan field as a farmer guides his plow in a timeless yet effective method to produce food.

A potato farmer in Bamyan Province in central Afghanistan. USA ID provided farmers with root cellars, which protect potatoes and seeds from extreme weather. These facilities reduce crop loss due to weather by 50 percent, and allow farmers to store and sell potatoes during winter months for a higher profit.

A boy collects potatoes in Bamiyan Province in central Afghanistan. In the background stands the empty niche carved in the mountain where a giant Buddha statue stood more than 110 feet tall for 15 centuries until the Taliban blew it up six months prior to the 9/11 attacks on America.

  
A typical Afghan village will include trees bearing nuts and fruit; fields of grain and vegetables; walled gardens and orchards; flocks of ducks and geese; and goats, sheep, cows, oxen, horses, and donkeys for meat, milk, and farm power. Ancient irrigation systems often bring water dozens of miles to water fields.