While humanitarian access has never been better, prices are soaring and needs continue to outpace the resources provided, the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) explained.
“The situation is disastrous. Every farmer we’ve spoken to has lost almost all of their crops this year, many were forced to sell their livestock, they have accumulated enormous debts and simply have no money,” said Richard Trenchard, FAO Representative in Afghanistan.
“No farmer wants to leave their land. But when you have no food, you have no grain from the previous harvest, there are no seeds in the fields and your livestock are gone, you have no choice.”
Daily struggle for millions
The UN agency said that 18.8 million Afghans are unable to feed themselves every day, and that this number is set to rise to nearly 23 million by the end of the year.
What started as a drought crisis has spiralled into economic disaster, with nine in 10 major urban centres also expected to face extreme hardship, as debts pile up and savings dwindle.
Worryingly, the already widespread drought looks set to worsen in Afghanistan, as farmers and herders brace for a likely second consecutive year of drought in 2022, with La Niña expected to bring drier than normal conditions to Afghanistan in the coming months.
This situation will create a very real famine risk in 2022, unless immediate large-scale support to protect these people and their livelihoods arrives very soon, FAO warned.
“What’s needed now obviously is to get them seeds, get them fertiliser and food assistance that the World Food Programme is providing…but also, it’s cash,” Mr. Trenchard insisted.
Full article below:
https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/11/1106212
Photos by: FAO/Hashim Azizi