Women who spin wool for a living in Afghanistan’s Zabul province say worsening poverty and unemployment have left them with few options but to rely on exhausting, low-paid work to survive.
Qamar Gul, 70, says wool spinning is her only means of staying alive. Suffering from multiple illnesses, she says she has received no assistance and earns just enough to buy basic food.
“I spin wool to survive. This is how I earn a piece of bread,” she said. “I am sick and my life problems are many.”
Local residents say widespread poverty and joblessness have pushed thousands of women in Zabul into wool spinning — labour-intensive work that provides little income and fails to meet families’ basic needs.
Other women said the work is physically demanding and poorly paid. For spinning one kilogram of yarn — a process that takes at least two to three days — they earn just 50 afghanis, or about $0.76.
“For one kilogram of yarn, we earn 50 afghanis, and it takes two to three days,” said Arifa, a resident of Zabul. “Look at my children — in this winter they do not even have proper clothes. Our life is extremely difficult.”
Another woman, Zargona, said the income barely covers essentials. “What can we do with 50 afghanis?” she said. “Clinics are closed to us, we have no flour, nothing to eat. We are all sitting and waiting for help.”
Local sources say the number of women turning to wool spinning has risen sharply as economic conditions deteriorate under the Taliban, leaving many households dependent on irregular aid and informal labour to survive.
