{"id":30378,"date":"2026-07-23T05:05:52","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T05:05:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/?p=30378"},"modified":"2026-07-23T05:07:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T05:07:11","slug":"magnolia-workshop-women-in-herat-strive-for-financial-independence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/2026\/07\/magnolia-workshop-women-in-herat-strive-for-financial-independence\/","title":{"rendered":"“Magnolia” workshop; women in Herat strive for financial independence"},"content":{"rendered":"

Among shelves filled with herbal soaps, natural oils, and skincare products, women are busy packaging orders. This small workshop in Herat began with a training experience in Iran and has now created employment opportunities for ten women and girls.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Roqia Rezaei, a 24-year-old resident of Herat, who established the “Magnolia” workshop nearly three years ago, says that, in addition to creating job opportunities for girls deprived of education in Herat, the workshop has expanded its activities to five other provinces.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe started our activities in 2023 by producing natural soaps, skincare oils, thick moisturizing creams, and body moisturizers. Fortunately, so far, we have established two official branches in two provinces and have also been able to send our products to Kabul, Mazar-e-Sharif, Daikundi, Bamyan, and Kandahar,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

She says women at the workshop are involved in training, production, packaging, sales, and marketing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe important thing is that around ten women are working with us in training, production, packaging, sales, and social media activities,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

She adds that despite their efforts, their biggest challenge is obtaining raw materials. Most of these materials are imported from Iran, and rising prices and transportation difficulties have created challenges for their work process.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur biggest problem is raw materials. Unfortunately, the raw materials or main ingredients we use for producing soap come from Iran, and due to recent conflicts, it has become very difficult to obtain them. Even if these materials are available here, their prices are three to four times higher,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Some trainers at the workshop say that, in addition to earning an income, they are working to promote the use of natural products among people.<\/p>\n

Kulsom Alawi, one of the workshop\u2019s trainers, says she previously received scientific training in producing herbal cleaning products and now teaches housewives and girls deprived of education at the workshop.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal is not only to generate income; we want the use of herbal and organic cleaning products to become more common in society because these products cause less harm to the skin,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Women working at the workshop also say that the income they earn from the workshop has helped them meet many of their basic needs. Latifa Sadat, one of the workshop’s employees, says,<\/p>\n

\u201cI have been working at this workshop for one year in the packaging and social media sections. I receive a monthly salary of 4,000 Afghanis. The salary I earn covers my education expenses, and I am very satisfied. The existence of such a workshop has helped solve our problems to some extent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Malikaa, another employee of the workshop, says, \u201cDuring this time, I have learned many things, especially the basic skills needed to produce soaps and herbal oils, which has been a good experience for me. Working at this workshop has also helped me become more familiar with herbal and organic products. Through our work, we are trying to introduce people to natural and organic products and encourage their use in society.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, officials from the Afghanistan Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry (AWCCI) for the Western Zone say that women have a strong presence in trade and domestic production. They add that some of these women are migrants who have returned from Iran.<\/p>\n

Behnaz Saljuqi, head of the AWCCI in the Western Zone, says,<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest obstacle facing businesswomen is capital. Unfortunately, many of them suffer from a lack of capital, and some have no capital at all. Most women have very innovative ideas for starting businesses, but because they do not have the necessary financial resources, they cannot put their ideas into practice.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Women\u2019s rights activists and economic experts also believe that women\u2019s economic activities are not limited to income generation but also directly affect the economic situation of families and society. Masuma Jami, a women\u2019s rights activist, says,<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen women are economically self-reliant, their families and communities also become more self-reliant. Women’s economic participation contributes to the growth of the market economy, which in turn strengthens the national economy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shoaib Rahimi, an economic expert, says, \u201cIn addition to the lack of support, if there are no restrictions on their activities, women can produce and sell a wide range of products and create significant demand in the market, and contribute to a more sustainable market and women-led businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite economic challenges and difficulties in obtaining raw materials, women at the workshop remain hopeful that they can expand their activities. They say their efforts are not only aimed at continuing a small business but also at creating employment opportunities and helping other women achieve financial independence.<\/p>\n

According to statistics from the Women\u2019s Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the Western Zone, more than 1,000 women are currently active in various production sectors in Herat, and this number is increasing day by day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Among shelves filled with herbal soaps, natural oils, and skincare products, women are busy packaging orders. This small workshop in Herat began with a training experience in Iran and has now created employment opportunities for ten women and girls.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":30379,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[990,179,16,24],"tags":[180,207,1421,1989,2050],"class_list":["post-30378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest","category-economy-business","category-report","category-women","tag-herat","tag-women","tag-workshop","tag-financial-independence","tag-magnolia"],"views":9,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30378","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=30378"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30378\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30385,"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30378\/revisions\/30385"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swn.af\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}