BAMIYAN (SW): A three days exhibition was held under the name of “Rural Market Exhibition” in Bamiyan. Women from Panjab, Yakawlang, Saighan districts, and Bamiyan capital exhibited their arts, crafts and other handmade embroideries.
Zahra Nazari and Hawa Gul, residents of the Panjab district and the capital of Bamiyan who have participated in this exhibition said the festival has provided them with an exceptional opportunity to showcase their products and attract customers.
Butter, dough, eggs, and honey were some of the products that Zahra and Hawa showcased in this exhibition.
According to them, such festivals and exhibitions will increase their sales; hence encourage them to produce more.
Handicrafts and other rural products are the only sources of income for rural women, Zahra and Hawa added. They called on the government to pay more attention to support such exhibitions and festivals.
Halima, one of the visitors at the exhibition said that new rural products have also been showcased in this exhibition which she has not seen before in this festival. Halima also said that she has purchased from this exhibition and she is satisfied with the quality of the products.
Officials at Bamiyan Rural Products and Crafts Development said that 400 active production groups have been registered with them throughout the province of which 100 are medium-sized producers and 270 are small manufacturing groups.
According to these officials, all of these groups are women who are producing handicrafts, embroideries and dairy products and the local government has been supporting them with the marketing and sales as well as providing the training to them.
Mohammad Alam Bahzad, head of National Rural Development Program said the purpose of the exhibition is to introduce local and rural products which are only produced in Bamiyan.
According to Bahzad, the gross income of rural embroideries and local products of Bamiyan produced by women has reached more than 2 million AFN annually.
Bamiyan province is located in the central part of the country where women have a widespread presence in the social, cultural, political and economic sectors. The art market is one of the places where women sell their products.
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