Review of the relative advantage of agricultural product exports from Afghanistan (2005–2018)

Abstract

Afghanistan is an agricultural country whose economy is also dependent on agriculture, but still, about two-thirds of Afghanistan's arable land is deprived of agriculture or is cultivated for a season due to mismanagement of water resources. On the other hand, for the growth of Afghanistan's economy, it is necessary to export its agricultural products to foreign markets in order to strengthen the country's economy. Due to the importance of this issue, this study has tried to examine the comparative advantage of saffron, apple and grape products, which are among the major agricultural products of Afghanistan among ECO member countries during the years 2005-2018. To measure the comparative advantage of agricultural products, Balasa comparative advantage index has been used and the results of cultivars calculated using Balasa comparative advantage index formula showed that the comparative advantage for all three products of saffron, apple and grape in the period 2005-2018. The results are 26.00952175, 38.7957636 and 38.58484423, respectively, which is higher than (1) for all three products, so the findings indicate that Afghanistan has a comparative advantage in the export of saffron, apples and grapes.