Afganistan Tarım Ürünleri Dış Ticaret Yapısına İlişkin Bir Değerlendirme

Abstract

Agriculture is traditionally a driving force of the Afghan economy with the majority of the Afghans rely on agriculture to feed their families and earn a livelihood. Prior to Taliban rule and decades of conflict, Afghanistan was not only able to produce enough food for its own population but also exported many agricultural products, such as almonds, pomegranates, pistachios, raisins, apricots…etc. Nevertheless, agriculture is now on the way to recovery. This paper aims at assessing the role of agriculture in Afghanistan's economy and recent agriculture development after Taliban Government. The paper further highlights the place and importance of agriculture in Afghanistan foreign trade, economy in general, international trade status and importance of the geographical position including its natural resources for future development. Hence, the study is based on secondary data obtained from various sources such as government websites, reports, journals and others. According to the finding, the agricultural products contributed about 73.3 % to the total export in Afghanistan as of 2016 with 61.6% labor force engaged in this sector. It is one of the major contributors to the country's gross domestic product (GDP) after service which was 19.88% in 2018. Simulations with an economy wide model show that by raising productivity in agriculture, Afghanistan could raise its GDP growth rate to 5.8 percent annually, on average, over the next ten years. Therefore, it is essential for Afghanistan to make better use of it geographical location opportunities in the region to realize its potential for regional and international trade.