As winter comes to close, we would like to express our deepest gratitude to our readers, friends, and supporters. Despite the many challenges and changing restrictions implemented by the Taliban government, NEI, with your encouragement and financial support, has continued in its mission to eradicate malnutrition, especially among women and children by establishing and strengthening the soy value chain in Afghanistan, which directly provides practical and sustainable solutions to the country's wide spread food insecurity and high unemployment rate.

Season's greetings from Nutrition and Education International! As 2023 draws to a close, we're deeply grateful for your generous support, which has enabled us to achieve several milestones. While we celebrate our successes as we reflect on the past year, we are mindful of the on-going struggles of the Afghan people under the Taliban government.

Since the Taliban took over the government two years ago, the humanitarian and economic situation of the Afghan people continues to deteriorate. Today, over 28 million Afghans - 70% of the population - require humanitarian aid, of whom more than half are women and children (UNOCHA Afghanistan Humanitarian Update, July 2023.)

We are pleased to update you on our current activities in Afghanistan. Despite a very challenging working environment with political and social changes, we continue to pursue our mission of eradicating malnutrition and improving the food security of poor Afghan women and children in rural villages.

Afghanistan is experiencing its coldest winter in 15 years, with temperatures dipping to -29 Fahrenheit degrees. This harsh weather together with the lack of food is leaving refugee families teetering on the edge.

Happy Holidays from Nutrition & Education International! As 2022 draws to a close, we appreciate all we have accomplished thanks to your ongoing encouragement and support.

With the holiday season fast approaching, I want to thank you for the compassion you carry in your hearts for the needy people of Afghanistan.

In 2022, NEI trained over 2,900 smallholder farmers in 10 provinces to cultivate soybeans. Many of these farmers were living in villages that were previously inaccessible due to active conflict between Taliban and Government forces.

Concerns over whether or not NEI could continue our flagship soybean farming program were high and real when the Taliban Interim Administration (TIA) took power in Afghanistan last summer.

In the past three months, NEI’s humanitarian team has provided over 1,010 starving refugee families (20,000 individuals including children) living in 15 different refugee camps with winter survival food packages of soy flour, soybeans, rice, and cooking oil, together with firewood.

2021 has been an extremely challenging year for NEI and its staff in Afghanistan. However, thanks to your support, and the dedication of NEI’s courageous Kabul team, we have been able to continue our humanitarian activities despite this new environment.

Fall 2021 has been filled with challenging events for NEI including the Taliban’s unexpected takeover of the Afghanistan government, the mistaken US drone strike that killed Zemarai Ahmadi, an innocent NEI employee of 15 years, along with his three sons and six other family members.

NEI’s soy cultivation program with Afghan farmers in nutrition-poor villages is progressing thanks to your encouragement and financial support. Most soy farmers continue to work in their soybean fields, hoping for a bountiful harvest in late October.

Arirang TV, Korea’s only English-speaking television channel, is airing a special 60-minute documentary called Planting Hope in Afghanistan tomorrow through Friday. The film features NEI’s 16 years working in Afghanistan as an international NGO. Click read more to watch on YouTube.

NEI thanks you and appreciates your generous support throughout the year.

I am personally thankful that I was honored by our own NEI Kabul staff during my 70th trip to Afghanistan in March and that they helped me achieve this significant milestone.

I recently returned from my 72nd trip to Afghanistan since establishing NEI in 2003 and am proud to say that we are closer than ever to eradicating malnutrition throughout the county—thanks to your generous financial and moral support!

In September, The 4-H Association, an international organization spanning 55 countries, hosted a global convention to bring current and potential members together. NEI was invited to represent the country of Afghanistan and NEI’s own rural youth development program, Seeds of Hope.