In the arid brown hills of northern Afghanistan, Abdul Hahad plucks stalks of wheat from the parched ground. In the third year of lack of water and high temperatures, his harvest is barely enough to feed his family.
The 55-year-old farmer from Nahr-e-Shahi district in Balkh province used to grow two or even three crops of wheat a year, but in the last three years he could grow only one. The income from his nine acres of land is dwindling year by year.
“It has been three years since the drought began, the wells and the river have almost dried up. We don’t even have enough drinking water, you can see our whole land has dried up,” he said as he sat by a pile of wheat under the sun in the 40-degree Celsius (104-degree Fahrenheit) heat.
The ongoing drought across Afghanistan is taking its toll on farmers, its economy a third of which is agriculture and its food security.
Experts say the drought is being exacerbated by climate change, which is putting more pressure on water resources. The Global Climate Risk Index says that Afghanistan is the sixth country in the world most affected by climate threats.
Afghanistan, with little functioning irrigation, relies on melting snow in the mountains to keep its rivers flowing in the summer and its fields irrigated.
But Najibullah Sadid, a water resources and environment expert and researcher at the Federal Institute for Waterway Engineering and Research in Germany, said that as temperatures rise, precipitation falls and snow falls, summer melt is not feeding rivers as much as before. .
“When it comes to food security, you see that in a country like Afghanistan, where over 30% of GDP (gross domestic product) comes from agriculture, then of course if that sector is affected by climate change, the gross economy of the country is affected by climate change,” Sadid said.
Afghanistan struggle in agriculture
Two years after the Taliban took over Afghanistan as foreign troops withdrew, strained water resources and the struggle in agriculture are among the main challenges of their administration.
With humanitarian aid cut sharply this year and no foreign government formally recognizing the Taliban, aid workers and diplomats say the level of development aid to help with the problem is limited.
The UN’s World Food Program says 15.3 million people face acute food insecurity in a country of nearly 42 million people.
The Taliban administration is building a 280 km (174 mi) canal which, when completed, could carry water for irrigation in the northern provinces. But completion is still years away, and neighboring countries have expressed concerns that it will unfairly divert their water.
Sitting with three of his eight grandchildren, Hahad described how his income has dwindled, forcing his family, like many in the village, to cut back on food beyond essentials such as bread and fruit.
Hahad says “Before, I could earn from 2.3 million Afghanis ($27,000) to 2.5 million Afghanis ($29,500) a year from my land. We grew wheat, melons, onions, eggplant, carrots and other things, but in the last three years I have not been able to earn even 100,000 Afghanis ($1,200), People are facing many hardships, some have left the village due to lack of water”.
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