Ruqia Rezai slowly peels reddish bars of soap from a silicone mould and stacks them on top of one another.
Her little workshop in western Afghanistan is in full swing, filling the air with the scent of fresh herbs, saffron and turmeric.
Rezai, 21, set up her small business four years ago, one year after the Taliban managed to seize power again, plunging the impoverished country into a spiralling humanitarian crisis.
Women's lives and freedom of movement are extremly restricted under the new Islamist regime, but many refuse to give up hope - and some are managing to make their own living, against all odds.
Rezai was forced to finish her schooling as quickly as possible when the Taliban took over on August 15, 2021. Their clampdown on women's rights meant she had no chance of attending university.
Then her father lost his business, leaving the family fighting for survival.
Today, Rezai's workshop in Herat employs eight people, sometimes more when orders are up.
The work is helping Rezai and also her sisters, who are involved too, to overcome difficult times, she says.
"Overall, this work has improved the mental health of our whole family."
Education severely restricted for girls
The humanitarian situation in Afghanistan has worsened considerably since the Taliban took over five years ago.
The economy collapsed and the country was excluded from the international financial system, while foreign aid payments have been cut.
That has led to hunger and despair. At least 3.7 million young children in Afghanistan are considered to be acutely malnourished. And almost 40% of the population may be acutely affected by food insecurity in the coming winter months.
Meanwhile 2.4 million girls are currently excluded from secondary schooling as a result of a Taliban ban, UNESCO said recently.
Under the Taliban, access to education - and public life in general - has been severely restricted for women and girls. They are not allowed to attend secondary school or university, and have been largely excluded from the workforce.
The Taliban takeover triggered a major exodus, but some 3.9 million people have since returned to Afghanistan from neighbouring Iran and Pakistan. Many were forced to, according to the UN refugee agency.
In a development update published in May, the World Bank noted that such return migration is putting further pressure on the Afghan economy.
"While returnees support demand and economic activity, their numbers are growing faster than the economy's capacity to absorb them. This
places pressure on jobs, public services, and prices, reinforcing poverty and fragility," the World Bank says.
While the economy grew last year, "rapid population growth has
outpaced economic expansion, leading to falling incomes per person."
Ongoing conflict with Pakistan is also hampering economic development. Following mutual attacks, Islamabad closed border crossings to the movement of goods, leaving Afghan farmers unable to export melons and nuts, while imports via Pakistan are also no longer possible.
Life under the Taliban
The situation is worst of all for Afghan women, who are no longer allowed to work in offices, need a male relative to accompany them in public and are forced to submit to strict Islamic dress codes.
Those rules are not enforced equally across all provinces, as Ghuncha Gul Karimi has seen for herself.
The 39-year-old beekeeper has been dressing up as a man every day since the Taliban takeover to ride 15 kilometres on her motorbike to attend to her beehives on the outskirts of Herat.
Once, the Taliban detained her due to her disguise. During the interrogation, she was asked whether she wasn't afraid of the new government.
"Instead of selling my body, I've decided to wear men's clothes, ride my motorbike, go to work, earn an honest living and put food on the table for my family," Karimi replied. She was released.
Karimi started beekeeping 18 years ago. Today, she runs 120 hives and trains both men and women in the craft.
This doesn't only allow her to cover all her family's expenses, but she was even able to pay for an eye operation her son needed.
"Today, I'm proud to say that by selling honey, I can help my children achieve their dreams," Karimi says.
Latif Nazari, deputy economy minister, told dpa that his ministry was supportive of female-led businesses as long as they stick to Islamic norms.
Women are employed in small and medium-sized enterprises and, "where necessary," in places such as airports, banks or the security sector, he says.
Afghanistan aims to achieve sustainable economic growth, and women are contributing to this while respecting national values, Nazari adds.
In reality, however, experts have noted that women are rarely granted work permits for employment.
Female-led businesses outperforming male counterparts
The private sector is currently driving the nation's fragile economic growth, according to the World Bank analysis.
"Notably, women-managed firms outperformed their male-managed
counterparts on several key indicators, despite operating under considerably tighter social and economic constraints," the World Bank says.
The bank found that female-led businesses saw significantly higher real annual sales growth, while they also recorded better employment expansion.
"Future private sector growth will depend critically on policies that
remove the financing, mobility, and regulatory barriers that prevent women-managed firms from translating demonstrated dynamism into sustained, scalable expansion."
But for some, it is not just the many restrictions that weigh on business, but a lack of capital.
Rezai would love to expand her soap workshop, she says. Business is going well thanks to marketing on social media.
Last year, she received a large order from Tajikistan, marking the first request to export abroad. But Rezai was forced to turn it down, unable to expand production capacity beyond the 12-square kitchen fast enough.
Restrictions have been tightened even further by the Taliban since this year, Rezai says. But she refuses to back down.
"People shouldn’t wait for someone to come and rescue them. They won’t come. People can only save themselves."
