“The situation is dire,” said Richard Trenchard, FAO Representative in Afghanistan.
Kabul:
UN humanitarians have warned that a “catastrophic and famine-like situation” is beseting farmers and ranchers in Afghanistan, whose needs continue to worsen as winter begins.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) explains that humanitarian access has never been better, prices are skyrocketing and Afghan needs continue to outstrip resources.
Richard Trenchard, FAO Representative, said: “The situation is dire. All the farmers we spoke to have lost almost their entire crop this year, many have been forced to sell their livestock, they have lost their crops. accumulated huge debts and simply had no money.” Afghanistan.
“No farmer wants to leave their land. But when you have no food, you have no grain from the previous harvest, no seed in the field, and your livestock is dead, you are not. there’s no other choice.”
According to the United Nations agency, 18.8 million Afghans cannot feed themselves every day and this number is expected to grow to nearly 23 million by the end of the year.
According to UN News, nine out of 10 major urban centers are expected to face extreme hardship, due to mounting debt and dwindling savings.
The FAO warns that this will create a very real risk of famine by 2022, unless immediate large-scale support to protect these people and their livelihoods arrives very soon.
“What is needed now is clearly getting them the seeds, fertilizers and food support that the World Food Program is providing…other than that, it’s cash,” emphasized Trenchard.
The situation is dire because agriculture is the backbone of Afghanistan’s livelihood and vital to the Afghan economy. According to the FAO, about 70% of Afghans live in rural areas and an estimated 80% of their livelihoods depend on farming or herding livestock.
Trenchard said widespread drought has left families with nothing to eat during the current lean season, after harvests drop by 80 to 90 percent. He called for increased humanitarian assistance, after seeing first-hand the extent of suffering on rural Heart’s roads.
“The only food they have is the food that people give them when they’re passing by, etc. It’s cold there, it’s a tough, harsh situation and what terrifies me is if the livelihoods are rural. That collapses, we’re going to see massive displacement.”
