Drought: another threat to Afghanistan
di Marjana Sadat , di Marjana SadatLots of people in rural areas are facing difficulties because of drought; they even have to go long ways to bring home drinking water. Haji Mohammad Jan has brought some big bottles of water to fill them with water from a neighboring village - Kamar Kalagh - which has a well, to use with some other residents of his village.
When it was finally his turn, the 66-year-old filled one container, then a second. The stream of water from the spigot got thinner. He started another container - but the thread of water tapered away and then stopped before the vessel was full.
Afghanistan's drought, its worst in decades, is now entering its second year, exacerbated by climate change. The dry spell has hit 25 of the country's 34 provinces, and this year's wheat harvest is estimated to be down 20% from the year before.
Along with fighting, the drought has contributed to driving more than 700.000 people from their homes this year, and the onset of winter will only increase the pot…
Lots of people in rural areas are facing difficulties because of drought; they even have to go long ways to bring home drinking water. Haji Mohammad Jan has brought some big bottles of water to fill them with water from a neighboring village - Kamar Kalagh - which has a well, to use with some other residents of his village.
When it was finally his turn, the 66-year-old filled one container, then a second. The stream of water from the spigot got thinner. He started another container - but the thread of water tapered away and then stopped before the vessel was full.
Afghanistan's drought, its worst in decades, is now entering its second year, exacerbated by climate change. The dry spell has hit 25 of the country's 34 provinces, and this year's wheat harvest is estimated to be down 20% from the year before.
Along with fighting, the drought has contributed to driving more than 700.000 people from their homes this year, and the onset of winter will only increase the potential for disaster. "This cumulative drought impact on already debilitated communities can be yet another tipping point to catastrophe," the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization's Afghanistan office said in a tweet Tuesday. "If left unattended, agriculture might collapse."
Afghanistan has long seen regular droughts. But in a 2019 report, the Fao warned that climate change could make them more frequent and more intense. The past year's drought came on the heels of one in 2018 that at the time was the worst seen in Afghanistan in years.
In the midst of the drought, Afghanistan's economy has collapsed by Taliban's takeover in mid-August that resulted in a shut-off of international funds to the government and the freezing of billions of the country's assets held abroad.
Jobs and livelihoods have disappeared, leaving families desperate for ways to find food. The Fao said last month that 18.8 million Afghans are unable to feed themselves every day, and by the end of the year that number will be 23 million, or nearly 60% of the population.
Already hit hard by the drought of 2018, small villages like Kamar Kalagh are shriveling away, unable to squeeze out enough water to survive.