Standing in a field of roses in eastern Afghanistan, former poppy grower Mohammad Din Sapai quickly but carefully plucks the delicate petals that will be turned into rose water and oils for sale around the world.

The sweet smelling crop is providing farmers in Nangarhar province with a viable alternative to growing opium poppies, the sale of which has fuelled the conflict raging across the country.

“I am very happy with this harvest of flowers,” Sapai tells AFP as he stands among hundreds of blooming rose bushes.

Sapai is one of more than 800 farmers in the province bordering Pakistan benefiting from the “Roses for Nangarhar” project, a joint Afghan-German initiative set up in 2007 to encourage poppy growers to switch to a legal, money-making flower.

“They provided us with the plants, the tools and even paid us for the first year when we had no harvest,” Sapai, 50, explains.