At least 192 female beekeepers have lost their jobs and are confined to their homes since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, sources within the beekeeping union in Nangarhar province say.
Rahima worked as a beekeeper in Nangarhar’s capital Jalalabad for ten years before August 2021. With her income through beekeeping and honey sales she provided for her family of 10.
However, since she lost her job and she’s been unable to work outside the home, her family is struggling to make ends meet.
Golnaz, another beekeeper from Jalalabad, was her family’s sole provider who lost her job after working for seven years in the field.
There has been no formal directive against women working in the beekeeping industry, but the women blame the Taliban policies that make work outside the home for women socially unacceptable.
While the Taliban’s vice and virtue police have yet to comment on the matter, the agriculture department of the de facto authority says that these women will soon be able to return to their jobs.
