IRIN
AFGHANISTAN: Drought-stricken farmers appeal for urgent assistance
30 October 2006


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

MAIMANA, 30 October (IRIN) - Farmers in the northwestern Afghan province 
of Faryab say they are desperate for help to survive the winter after 
the devastating drought that destroyed this year's crops.

Their calls come after last week's appeal to donors from the government 
and from the United Nations Assistance Mission to Afghanistan (UNAMA) to 
provide urgent help for those in need.

For now, the lost harvest is forcing farmers like Ali Mohammad, 45, from 
Pashtoon Kot district, to sell their emaciated animals in an effort to 
feed their families after crops failed two months ago.

"I only got 70 kg from my wheat yield this year [compared to] nearly 900 
kg in a good year. So in one month we will be starving and winter is 
getting closer," Mohammad said, as he jostled with dozens of other 
farmers trying to sell their livestock at the provincial capital's 
market.

As a result of the drought, there has been a 55 percent loss in rain-fed 
wheat in provinces in the north and northeast compared with 2005, 
according to Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock in Kabul.

Production of wheat, which is a third rain-fed and accounts for 80 
percent of all cereal output, is expected to fail sharply. Official 
estimates put total output in 2005 at 3.7 million mt, down 13 percent on 
2005, while total cereals production is expected at 4.8 million mt 
compared to domestic demand of around 6 million mt. Faryab province, 
home to 1 million people, has been hit particularly hard by the drought 
as almost 90 percent of agricultural land is watered by rain, leaving an 
estimated 180,000 farmers without water.

"Farmers have lost over 80 percent of their rain-fed wheat crops due to 
very low precipitation this year," said Assadullah Bahar, head of the 
provincial agriculture and livestock department of Faryab in Maimana 
city.

Over the past 12 months, water in shallow wells and traditional 
reservoirs - usually used for drinking water and for livestock - have 
all but dried up in many parts of the province.

"Nearly 40 percent of all domestic animals in the province have been 
sold and people continue to transport their cattle, including oxen and 
sheep, to the neighboring provinces of Jawzjan and Mazar-e Sharif for 
sale," Bahar maintained.

Bahar also highlighted concern that impoverished farmers may be tempted 
to turn to other ways of making a living unless help is at hand.

"Farmers are in very desperate conditions and need urgent assistance, 
otherwise it's feared that many of them will resort to illicit poppy 
cultivation and also we will definitely see major population 
displacement," he said.

Last week, the government and UNAMA appealed for some US $43 million to 
cope with the urgent needs of 1.9 million drought-stricken people and 
around 20,000 families who have been displaced by the recent conflict in 
southern Afghanistan.

"This request is extremely time sensitive and I would like to appeal to 
all the donors to respond quickly and generously," said Ameerah Haq, 
deputy of the Special Representative of the United Nations 
Secretary-General to Afghanistan.

With more than half the country's 30 million inhabitants living below 
the poverty line an estimated 6.5 million people are already seasonally 
or chronically food insecure, officials say.

The Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD), along with 
the World Food Programme (WFP), have been working to assist the most 
needy.

"We have earlier launched around 90 food-for-work projects in 21 
provinces and will provide some 20,000 mt of mixed food items to 
drought-stricken people," Abudrahim Zarin, an MRRS spokesman, told IRIN.

But many farmers in Faryab contacted by IRIN complained that they had 
not received any assistance yet and said they would be forced to resort 
to opium cultivation to feed their families.

"There is no assistance from any side and the only remaining way for us 
to feed our families is to cultivate poppy because it can grow on little 
water and could give us several times better profit than wheat," said 
35-year-old Azizullah, a farmer in the Gurziwan district of Faryab who 
was also selling his last remaining cattle in Maimana City.


IRIN-Asia
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Fax: +90 312 495 4166
Email: IrinAsia@IRINnews.org


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