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Editorial: $30 million grant helps local effort to cultivate world peace
HEIDI KÜHN of San Rafael is a perfect example of someone who decided she wanted to make a difference. Her worldwide war on landmines was rewarded last week with a $30.4 million grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development. Kuhn's homegrown, heart-driven campaign that has turned deadly minefields in Afghanistan into productive farmland is now expanding to help struggling farmers grow better crops.  An Afghan farmer displays his thriving grapevines being The irony is inescapable. The grant comes at a time when the United States is ramping up its military presence in Afghanistan to fight the Taliban and the terrorist influence of al-Qaida. Restoring farmland at a time when Afghanistan remains a battlefield is no small challenge, but if there is a way, you can bet Kühn will make productive, life-saving progress. From planting daffodils in the shape of a heart on San Rafael Hill to helping increase local public awareness about mines to helping Afghan farmers turn mine-riddled fields into safe and productive land for growing grapes, Kühn and the Roots of Peace organization she founded and leads have overcome daunting odds to become a major presence. They deserve congratulations for being able, ready and willing to fulfill the goals of the federal grant. The grant represents part of a major expansion for Roots of Peace; its budget will increase from $11.8 million in 2010 to about $50 million over the four years of the federal grant. It also is the largest grant for agricultural development the United States has awarded to a nongovernmental group. Heady stuff for a nonprofit that started in Marin. Roots of Peace, which has 300 employees in Afghanistan, will use the grant to help 26,000 farmers switch from their reliance on growing poppies and cereal crops to such high-value crops as grapes, apples, pomegranates, cherries and almonds. “This is big Taliban territory, but we're facing it with faith rather than fear,” said Kühn, whose group is working with the United Nations Mine Actions Service. Her group's supporters include thousands of local children who have donated their penny collections, along with students across the country, to help plant the roots of peace. In addition to saving lives and promoting agriculture, Kühn's tireless efforts have made many Americans aware of landmines, a tragic legacy of war that keeps killing and maiming for years after the fighting has ended. We applaud Heidi Kühn and Roots of Peace for cultivating hope for the future in an area of the world that desperately needs a helping hand.
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