LocationsFive Afghan businesses displayed their products to the Saudi Food Show in Jeddah between the 27th and 30th of September.
Afghan Businesses at the Saudi Food Show 2026
October 7, 2026
Five Afghan businesses displayed their products to the Saudi Food Show in Jeddah between the 27th and 30th of September.
UNDP Afghanistan
On a busy aisle in a vast exhibition centre in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, international buyers sampled sweet figs and heirloom apricot varieties, distinctive pale pistachios and fresh pomegranate juice, all products of Afghanistan.
At the Saudi Food Show 2026, among 1,100 exhibitors from more than 95 countries, five Afghan businesses made their debut, showcasing the quality and competitiveness of Afghan products while opening new opportunities for food and beverage exports.
The five participating companies—New Yaqoobi Ltd, Afghan Red Pomegranate, Amin Mohammad Pure Dry Fruit Processing and Packaging Company, King Khan Ltd and Wasela Ltd—showcased dried fruits, nuts, spices, pomegranate juice and concentrates. The exhibition gave them an opportunity to meet international buyers, distributors and retailers and explore potential export relationships.
At the 2026 event, the businesses made contact with more than 80 interested buyers and signed 11 memoranda of understanding, covering more than 1,350 tonnes of produce and with a combined potential value of approximately USD 3.67 million. Six of these, worth approximately USD 1.53 million, were recorded as confirmed business transactions, while the remaining five were expressions of interest.
Discussions initiated during the show can continue for weeks or months after the event. The implementing partner has been asked to collate further results as the negotiations progress.
Muhammad Basir, whose company produces juice concentrates, had a message for buyers from across the Gulf.
“We can export many products to Saudi Arabia and across the Gulf,” he said. “We would like you to come to Afghanistan. There are so many opportunities there.”
Back at the Saudi Food Show, the representative of Wasila Limited, a dried fruit company from Kandahar, was confident about the future of the products on display.
“The figs of Kandahar have no match anywhere in the world. Only Kandahar has them,” he said. “It is just a matter of time before the right people notice them.”
These early contacts and MoUs give a clearer picture of what the Saudi Food Show 2026 achieved for the participating businesses, while the value of any eventual deals remains subject to ongoing negotiations.
All five companies sourced products from farmers in provinces that, only a few years ago, would have been harvesting opium poppies. The 2022 ban on poppy cultivation reduced production by an estimated 95 percent, but it also cut incomes for many rural families by more than 90 percent. While this represented significant progress from a counternarcotics perspective, it created a severe economic shock in some of Afghanistan’s poorest communities.
Replacing that income is not easy. Poppy can grow in marginal conditions, requires far less water than crops such as wheat and can survive circumstances that would destroy most other harvests.
During a visit to Kabul in July, UNDP Administrator Alexander De Croo noted that the end of poppy cultivation had cost farmers and agricultural workers more than USD 1 billion annually.
Since October 2021, UNDP has supported more than 109,000 farmers and livestock owners with agricultural inputs, services and equipment.
Yet inputs alone are not enough. Farmers also need storage facilities, processors and buyers willing to pay for what they grow. That is where the Afghanistan Community Resilience Programme, funded by the European Union and implemented jointly by UNDP, FAO, IOM and UNODC, comes in.
Through its implementing partner, Roots of Peace, UNDP helps Afghan agribusinesses participate in national and international trade fairs, connecting them directly with global buyers and retail chains. When a company secures a major export order, it purchases more produce from farmers and creates new jobs, helping to replace income lost after the ban on poppy cultivation.
Previous trade shows have already delivered results. At two international exhibitions last year, Afghan businesses supported by the programme generated more than USD 25 million in trade prospects.
For nearly a decade, UNDP has worked with rural communities across Afghanistan to reduce dependence on the poppy economy, and today it is one of the leading organizations supporting alternative livelihoods in the country. Its approach is based on a simple principle: farmers grew poppy because it offered a reliable crop, a ready market and a dependable income. Legal crops must now offer the same.
That is why UNDP’s support extends beyond the farm gate, spanning everything from seeds and irrigation to processing facilities, business financing and international trade opportunities such as the exhibition in Jeddah.
For the participating Afghan businesses, the next step is to follow up with interested buyers and work towards turning the contacts made in Jeddah into commercial agreements.