UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- David Wolfgang, extension veterinarian and senior research associate in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences, often travels throughout Pennsylvania conducting continuing-education programs for other vets, agriculture professionals and farmers about dairy livestock.

He never dreamed he'd go to a place like Afghanistan to lend his expertise to improve that nation's agricultural infrastructure. But last fall he did just that.

A few years ago Wolfgang gave a seminar on animal biosecurity in San Antonio, Texas. He talked about how specialists in Penn State's Veterinary Science Department promote a disease-prevention approach, focusing on mode of transmission. "We see this as better way of dealing with animal disease, rather than simply treating one specific disease after an animal has been infected," he says.

Wolfgang stressed the importance of preventing disease introduction as a more effective, long-term solution, and the message impressed U.S. Department of Agriculture officials who attended the San Antonio seminar. They contacted him later and asked him if he would be willing to be part of a USDA team going to Afghanistan to work with three major Afghan universities in Kandahar, Kabul and Jalahabad. He accepted.

"One issue facing the professionals at these universities is a lack of opportunity for retraining," says Wolfgang. "Many teachers at these universities have an adequate education but lack field experience and the ability to adapt applications from the textbook to the field. Furthermore, many graduates are not being hired in their area of study.

"Even those hired in their field of study have few or no opportunities to be retrained along the way," adds Wolfgang. "In light of this problem, one potential project for the future involves teaching the teachers -- providing them with more knowledge and experience so that they can pass it on to others. As these three main universities establish a stronger presence in their vicinity, they can have a stronger impact on rebuilding the country's agricultural infrastructure."

Wolfgang tries to look at the big picture in searching for solutions to agricultural problems. "That's my approach to the field investigations that we do here in Pennsylvania as well as the strategy for disease prevention I presented at the seminar that led to my involvement in Afghanistan," he says. "This philosophy governs my approach to rebuilding the country's agricultural infrastructure and helping the Afghan people get back on their feet again."

This wide-angle approach differs from most of what he saw in Afghanistan, Wolfgang believes. "There are many organizations and countries saying 'let us come in and help you, let us kill you with kindness,' basically," he says. "There is a lot of giving right now. 'We will give you food or give you aid or give you help.' But, from my perspective, one of the problems is that they are getting lots of stuff but not really building a structure that is sustainable."

Although Wolfgang recognizes the need for emergency care and attention right now, he would like to see Afghan professionals trained so that they can later train others. "This is one step in giving them the tools to change what they do -- an important concept in making lasting progress," he says. "If you give people food for three or four years but don't build a system for them to create their own food and wealth, then when you take your giving away, they are right back where they were before — sometimes even worse."

In Afghanistan, only 50 percent of the people are being fed by home-grown products, with aid from the United States and other international agencies comprising the remaining 50 percent. There are not many other natural resources to turn to in the country, so agriculture continues to be the major source of wealth. However, currently a major source of income in Afghanistan comes from opium poppies.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai discussed the problem of opium farming in a recent meeting with President Bush. He said that he had a six-year plan to rid the country of its dependence on poppy farming; however, legitimate agricultural alternatives are not as financially rewarding. Karzai alluded to a future in such crops as honeydew melons, a fruit traditionally grown in Afghanistan. "However, without an internal infrastructure, melons or any other delicate fruit are an unlikely source of revenue at least for several years," Wolfgang says. "The process depends heavily on transportation and marketing. With a road system that has been destroyed, transportation of delicate fruits leads to bruising and spoiling of the goods, lowering their market value."

To facilitate the 'big picture approach' that Wolfgang advocates, he has been invited to return to Afghanistan, possibly even for a six-month stay. He would be working primarily with livestock but will be coordinating his work with other volunteers in such areas as water management and soil preservation. Therefore, he would most likely return to the country a few more times to integrate a more coordinated project so that all efforts work to meet one target.

"Part of the problem right now is that there are people in the country starting good projects but there is no overlap between one person's visit and the next person's, resulting in abandoned projects that are not beneficial," Wolfgang says. "Coordination and good communication could help to solve these problems and focus the work to build something lasting in Afghanistan."

Wolfgang doesn't know when this next trip will occur. The major obstacle is safety. While in Afghanistan, he and his team were constantly escorted by soldiers in large vehicles, and having civilians in the country is a risk. "When the caravan is seen leaving the base in the morning to visit a university, it is obvious to everyone that they will be returning the same way later that afternoon and so they become an easy target," he says.

"Traveling itself is also an issue as many of the roads have been destroyed. Due to these reasons and other logistical issues, my return trip is still in the works, but I anticipate returning as early as August or sometime in the fall."

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(Editors: to get high-resolution photos to accompany this feature, send an e-mail request to jjm29@psu.edu)

Writer: Whitney Glaser

Editor: Jeff MulhollemOffice 814-863-2719 FAX 814-863-9877