{"id":28248,"date":"2026-01-28T08:57:53","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T08:57:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/?p=28248"},"modified":"2026-01-28T09:06:53","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T09:06:53","slug":"women-turn-medicinal-herbs-into-financial-freedom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/2026\/01\/women-turn-medicinal-herbs-into-financial-freedom\/","title":{"rendered":"Women turn medicinal herbs into financial freedom"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>The sound of crushed dried herbs, the aroma of medicinal teas, and the soft chatter of young women fill a small workshop in Afghanistan, where they prepare natural remedies.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Every day, these women make herbal and traditional medicines, turning herbs from nature into a way to earn a living. The hum of grinders, the careful packaging of remedies, and their calm conversations tell a story that is more than just work\u2014it is about skill, determination, and empowerment.<\/p>\n<p>Farzana Anwari, who has been working in the workshop for four years, says many of the remedies are for nerves, infections, stomach pain, kidney stones, and jaundice. She adds that the young women who joined with little knowledge of medicinal herbs have learned a lot and can now make remedies with confidence.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-28250 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/herbal-medicines-1.jpg.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1080\" height=\"720\" srcset=\"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/herbal-medicines-1.jpg.jpeg 1080w, https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/herbal-medicines-1.jpg-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/herbal-medicines-1.jpg-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/herbal-medicines-1.jpg-768x512.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1080px) 100vw, 1080px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Shaimagul Samadi shares a similar story. She says: \u201cBefore, I knew a little about herbs, but I didn\u2019t know how to use them\u2014what they are good for, what benefits they have, or how they work. Since I came here, I\u2019ve learned how to use them properly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The training goes beyond learning. For many women, it has improved their family\u2019s finances.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-28251 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/herbal-medicines-2.jpg.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1080\" height=\"720\" srcset=\"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/herbal-medicines-2.jpg.jpeg 1080w, https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/herbal-medicines-2.jpg-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/herbal-medicines-2.jpg-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/herbal-medicines-2.jpg-768x512.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1080px) 100vw, 1080px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Somaya Haidari says: \u201cThis work helps me a lot. It supports my family, lets me save some money, and the remedies are safe for my children. We live in a poor neighborhood, and as the saying goes, \u2018little by little, a drop becomes an ocean.\u2019 This job helps solve some of our problems.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Elham Ahmadi, who sells the remedies, explains that both young and old come to buy them. She says, \u201cEvery day, 10 to 15 patients visit. Most are poor. Chemical medicines are expensive, but our remedies are affordable and reasonably priced.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-28252 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/herbal-medicines-3.jpg.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1080\" height=\"720\" srcset=\"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/herbal-medicines-3.jpg.jpeg 1080w, https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/herbal-medicines-3.jpg-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/herbal-medicines-3.jpg-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/herbal-medicines-3.jpg-768x512.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1080px) 100vw, 1080px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The workshop was started five years ago by a female entrepreneur. Today, it directly and indirectly employs 555 women.<\/p>\n<p>Shukria Ahmadi, the manager, says the main goal was to give women who cannot work outside due to social or economic reasons, a chance to earn. She says: \u201cI started with very little money. Now we have four to five branches, and our investment has grown to 500,000 Afghanis. We make over 100 types of herbal remedies, including extracts, tablets, capsules, powders, oils, and soaps.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-28253 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/herbal-medicines-4.jpg.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1080\" height=\"720\" srcset=\"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/herbal-medicines-4.jpg.jpeg 1080w, https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/herbal-medicines-4.jpg-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/herbal-medicines-4.jpg-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/herbal-medicines-4.jpg-768x512.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1080px) 100vw, 1080px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Abdulrahman Karimi, an economic issues expert in Herat, says workshops like this are very important. According to him, business helps increase income, improve financial control, build self-confidence, develop skills, strengthen communities, and create jobs, benefiting both local and national economies.<\/p>\n<p>This small workshop is a clear example of what women can do with limited resources. From medicinal herbs, they have created not just income, but also hope and financial independence.<\/p>\n<p><em>Reporter: Kobra Salari<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Shaimagul Samadi shares a similar story. She says: \u201cBefore, I knew a little about herbs, but I didn\u2019t know how to use them\u2014what they are good for, what benefits they have, or how they work. Since I came here, I\u2019ve learned how to use them properly.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":28249,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[990,1,984,16,977,981,24],"tags":[180,207,1421,1434,1435],"class_list":["post-28248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest","category-0_swnen","category-news","category-report","category-women-rights","category-economy","category-women","tag-herat","tag-women","tag-workshop","tag-medicinal-herbs","tag-herbs"],"views":123,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28248"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28248\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28255,"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28248\/revisions\/28255"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}