In 2004, supported by the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry, then-Foreign Minister Solomon Passy, and the German non-governmental organization Welthungerhilfe, a project was started in Afghanistan to cultivate Bulgarian Roses as an alternative to growing opium. Bulgarian Roses are unique in that they are cultivated for their oil, which is used in expensive perfumes. The total amount of rose oil produced in the world was 4,000 kilograms in 2010, most of that grown in the Rose Valley of Bulgaria. It takes 3,500 kilograms of rose petals to produce one kilogram of rose oil. One kilogram of rose oil sells for around 4,000-5,000 euros. Although small-scale, the rose oil industry in Afghanistan provides a living wage for 5,000 people. The market size shown is the amount of rose oil produced in Afghanistan in 2010.
Geographic reference: Afghanistan
Year: 2010
Market size: 30 kilograms valued at approximately €135,000
Source: Sofia News Agency, “Afghanistan Shows Off Own ‘Bulgarian Rose’ Oil,” novinite.com, January 24, 2011 [Online] here. The image used comes from an online article titled “Extract of Bulgarian Rose Oil Contains in Italian Parfume,” published on June 20, 2007 [Online] here.