An Afghan worker collects a silkworm cocoon

• An Afghan worker collects a silkworm cocoon from dried mulberry leaves in Zandajan district of
•  Herat province, Afghanistan, on May 22, 2014. Once a stop along the Silk Road, western Afghanistan
•  has a long tradition of producing silk used to weave carpets, a process that dates back thousands
•  of years. Carpets are Afghanistan's best-known export, woven mostly by women and children in the
•  north of the country, a trade which once employed, directly or indirectly, six million people, 
• although that figure has since dropped sharply. In cooperation with a non-profit organization, 
• the Department of Agriculture in Herat provided some 5,050 silkworm boxes to several districts 
• at the beginning of 2014 to revive silk production in the region. 42,500 women and their families
•  were involved in the project, which aimed to provide a means of subsistence and potentially 
• lead to international market access for silk producers in the country.