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Afghanistan: Drought : Millions in Need of Support to Meet Immediate Needs and Rebuild Livelihoods

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Source: ActionAid, Afghanaid, Concern Worldwide, Oxfam, Tearfund, ZOA
Country: Afghanistan

Statement on the drought in Afghanistan produced by a group of NGOs, including Afghanaid.

Statement released 31 August 2011.

Limited rain and snow fall in 2010/2011 has resulted in drought conditions across Afghanistan’s north, north-east and west. This has led to massive losses in the rainfed wheat crop (average 80 per cent loss throughout the drought-affected provinces), substantially reduced the yield of the irrigated wheat crop and reduced the potential for other agricultural income generating activities. As a result there has been a significant deterioration in food security in areas already chronically food insecure: initial assessments indicate that an additional 2.7m people have been pushed into food insecurity as a result of the drought.

Water sources have dried up earlier than in normal years, and access to water is thus an immediate priority. Many water sources that are still available are contaminated, leading to heightened risk of disease. Outbreaks of acute watery diarrhoea have been reported across the country. Together with insufficient food consumption, this will likely lead to an increase in moderate and severe acute malnutrition unless interventions are rapidly scaled up.

The most vulnerable households are rapidly using up food reserves and are facing a food crisis. An estimated 73 per cent of the population in affected areas say that they will have access to food for less than two months. In the west, northeast and central highlands, vulnerable households will move from food stressed to food crisis over the coming months, and for all those affected, the crisis is expected to last until the end of next year’s harvest in August 2012.

The failure of the rainfed wheat crop has left smallholder farmers with nothing to sell, and agricultural day labourers with a lack of on-farm work. Hundreds of thousands of families have lost their primary source of income. Livestock owners have lost access to pastures, and there have been massive losses in the fodder crop, leading to a quadrupling of the market price of fodder. Together with reduced access to water, this has had a crippling effect on livestock health.

Vulnerable households are already engaging in harmful coping strategies: reducing the size and quality of meals; selling assets including female livestock; going into debt; and migrating to other provinces or outside the country in search work. Assessments earlier this year found that an estimated 50 per cent of livestock in the drought-affected areas had already been sold, at prices 40-50 per cent below normal,and that 50-80 per cent of young men had left their homes in search of employment.

This note outlines priority concerns that we believe must be given urgent attention by donors so as to meet the immediate needs and strengthen the resilience of Afghan men, women and children.

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