The U.S. Air Force has identified an unlikely hero in the war-torn lands between the Hindu Kush mountains and the Kabul River. Warlords and opium farmers, I present to you: the humble chicken.

Operation Kentucky Fried is underway. In a request for information, the military service announced its interest in setting up a poultry operation for the Afghan Defense Ministry’s commissaries and chow halls. The chicken venture is just one of a series of American efforts to boost local Afghan industries and create economic opportunities beyond taking aid money and dealing drugs. This time, it’s just say No to drugs, and Yes to chicken.

Plus, the Afghan ministry needs its protein. An in-house supply of chicken could meet rising demand without being affected by the volatile market fluctuations and seasonal prices instability of imported meat. At 5,000 birds per day (with the capacity to slaughter up to 15,000), this operation would spice up the menu on a regular basis: Apparently right now it’s dominated by red meat.

The new operation would provide “eggs, chicks, slaughtered pullets (cooled and frozen) as well as live birds.” Complete with a feed mill, hatchery, growing house and processing facility, it is also supposed to create a “demand for alternative crops (feed grains), fertilizer production (poultry litter) as well as additional jobs.” Hopefully that means less pressure on farmers to grow illegal opium poppies, which right now can turn quite a profit. In many areas opium farming has replaced wheat farming and livestock trading, turning Afghanistan into the world’s largest supplier of opium.

The government has had some success with previous ventures into the chicken industry. For example, the Helmand Poultry Project was started in 2007 to jump-start the (legal) agriculture sector. But now we need details for the Kabul region. How much water would be necessary? Is raising free-range birds possible? Where would all the viscera and byproducts go? What about veterinary bills? How much refrigerator space? The notice calls for “poultry-specific requirements” for each of the buildings, and indicates that this venture should require manual labor only (no automatic chicken-raising) with minimal machinery.

The Air Force is daring any brave farmer or business to give it some poultry specs. Let’s see who plays their game of chicken.

Photo: Library of Congress, Lena Groeger