After hearing about CNFA’s USDA-funded Afghanistan Agriculture Development Program (AADP), Amir Bigum of Kabul and her two partners approached the project about expanding their handicrafts business, Froshga Muzhda. Seeing the business’s potential in hand-made artisanal goods market, CNFA jumped at the opportunity to work with the women. Seeing an unmet demand for leather goods, initially Amir Bigum and her partners began by importing goods from Pakistan, but they knew they could produce and sell local goods of equal or better quality.

CNFA helped Froshga Muzhda purchase additional leather sewing equipment, and the owners identified a reliable source of quality leather from nearby Mazar e Sharif. With these pieces in place, Froshga Muzhda began producing shoes, bags and other leather goods. The CNFA grant enabled Amir to hire an additional 10 producers and two instructors for full-time training, all of whom are women. Part of their new jobs is taking training courses in literacy and basic arithmetic.

Based on early sales, Froshga Muzhda’s annual revenue is projected to increase from $37,000 to $57,000, an increase of more than 50%. This increase comes as the business continues to expand by adding more trained production capacity and marketing more goods. The business is scheduled to reach full production capacity by the end of 2006. An additional grant of $4,200 has allowed the women of Froshga Muzhda to absorb the risk of adapting a new technology and has let them focus on expanding their business and empowering women to improve their lives both through increased income but also through education.