Nebraskan works on Afghan agriculture

KUNAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan - America’s counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan depends on the work of people like Kevin Kock, a U.S. Department of Agriculture contract employee from Lincoln, Neb., who is providing U.S. agricultural expertise in Afghanistan's Kunar province. Kock advises U.S. military teams, the provincial government and Afghan agricultural producers who face a host of challenges ranging from rampant livestock diseases to unsustainable crop production practices.

“We’ve been dealing with a lot of foot-and-mouth [diseases], a lot of anthrax, a lot of rabies,” Kock said. “So, we’ve been spending a lot of energy trying to solve some of those problems.”

More than half of Afghans are illiterate, making written agricultural education materials’ value limited. Farming in Kunar province is done almost entirely by hand. Mechanization of agriculture is many years away, but according to Kock, those are not his greatest hurdles in dealing with local farmers.

“Well, a lot of it’s not only development, but trust,” Kock said. “So they’re a little bit paranoid. You know, what are we going to put in their animal?”

The trust issue for Afghan farmers, Kock added, goes far beyond questions about modern agricultural techniques. In Kock’s experience, the most important issue to farmers here is whether the U.S. will continue its presence in Afghanistan beyond next year.

“That’s the biggest question we have of trust,” said Kock. “And there are a lot of people amassing whatever they can because they’re getting ready for when the Americans pull out. So, we do have a lot that we’ve got to work through.”

One of the military teams Kock is working with is the Iowa National Guard’s 734th Agri-Business Development Team. Kock even shares an office with the ADT’s commander, U.S. Army Col. Craig Bargfrede of Ankeny, Iowa.

“Kevin has been a tremendous wealth of knowledge to us as we begin our operations here,” Bargfrede said. “We have a good working relationship now, and I expect it will only get better.”

Kock agreed with Bargfrede’s assessment and he pointed out the civilian-military relationship is vital as both organizations work to build the capacity of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to provide food security to its citizens.

“We work hand-in-hand,” Kock said. “The civilians can’t do what we do if the military’s not here and I think the civilians add a lot to what the military’s doing.”

So why is a life-long Nebraskan working on agriculture in eastern Afghanistan? According to Kock, it is a natural career progression, at least for him.

“Well, I did extension work for a long time, and this really is ‘extension-101’,” Kock said. “I did some banking and taught college a while. Then I decided I wanted to go do some international development stuff, and I guess there’s no better place to do international development stuff than right here.”