The Missouri National Guard Agri-Business Development Team and a similar team from Kansas have joined the counterinsurgency effort in Afghanistan by using their civilian skills to assist Afghan farmers. Agriculture accounts for eighty percent of the Afghan economy, but most of that is a result of the opium trade from growing poppies. These soldiers are teaching former poppy growers how to irrigate their land, control pests, deworm cattle, grow different cash crops, and market their harvests. Although they are attempting to use “soft power” to influence the people, these National Guard men and women are well-aware of the dangers in which they are plying their civilian trades. Said one spokesperson, “This team has the exact same concerns as every unit over there: they want to get back alive.” For more on the Agri-Business Teams see the Kansas City Star story and editorial