IRIN
AFGHANISTAN: UN pledges US $11 million for drought relief
15 August 2006


[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United
Nations]

KABUL, 15 August (IRIN) - The United Nations Office for the Coordination
of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has pledged US $11 million to help
millions of drought-stricken people in Afghanistan, it was announced on
Tuesday.

The contribution came after a joint appeal by the United Nations (UN)
and the Afghan government on 25 July for $76 million to feed and assist
more than 2.5 million drought-affected people .

Much of the country's wheat crop has failed this year because of lower
than expected snowfall during the winter and poor spring rains, leaving
thousands of families hungry.

"Drought devastates communities in many ways and leads to spiralling
impoverishment," Margareta Wahlstrom, the UN's assistant
secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and deputy emergency relief
coordinator, said from New York.

Households consumed their harvests much sooner than usual, which led to
increased malnutrition, seeds were eaten before the next planting season
and animals and household goods were sold and people migrated to the
cities, Wahlstrom said.

The World Food Programme was to receive $10 million of the donation to
provide food for 1.7 million people in 13 of the worst drought-hit
provinces, while the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the
World Health Organization would receive the remainder to provide further
aid.

OCHA said the $200,000 given to UNICEF's therapeutic feeding programme
would help 2,000 severely malnourished children in the Sari Pul,
Samangan and Ghor provinces.

Aleem Siddique, a public information officer with the United Nations
Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), praised the pledges but
called on other donors to provide further help.

"While we welcome the $11 million pledges by OCHA, there is a pressing
need for further funds if we are to raise the $76 million that we need
to reach rural communities before the winter sets in. Therefore we ask
those donors who are able, to step forward and help," Siddique said.

Officials have warned that inadequate rainfall in April and May could
wipe out 50 percent of this year's wheat crop. The wheat harvest
accounts for 80 percent of the country's cereal production.

Afghanistan's Ministry of Agriculture and the UN Food and Agriculture
Organization estimated that there could be a shortfall of 1.2 million mt
of cereals in 2006. An estimated six million mt of cereals would be
needed but only 4.8 million mt produced.


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