KABUL – Toby Lanzer, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Afghanistan, hasraised concerns over a possible drought in Afghanistan next year, pledgingthe UN’s all out support to Afghanistan in case there is a wheat shortagein the country.
Meanwhile, officials from the National Environmental Protection Agency(NEPA) have said that Afghanistan has suffered enormously from the impactof climate change in the world and that the level of the country’sunderground water table has dropped considerably.
NEPA says that the lack of rain and snowfall this year threatens thegrasslands and agriculture sector in the country.
“We will lose our water resources if there is no rain and snow, also ouragriculture sector will be harmed and this increases poverty,” saidMalikyar, deputy chief of NEPA.
UN says in case of drought, Afghanistan will need 1.5 million tons ofwheat.
“If there is a drought, if indeed there was a shortfall of 1.5 millionmetric tons of wheat or perhaps more, I have no doubt that theinternational community, be it friendly countries of the region, be it thedonor community (would help),” said Lanzer.
“Less than 30 percent of the average rain fell in 24 of 34 provinces acrossAfghanistan from October to January, and I estimate the country will face a1.5 million MT deficit of wheat this year,” Lazer said in a twitter post on5 February.
The Ministry of Agriculture Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL) has said thatthe government has a stockpile of 240,000 tons of wheat in case of adrought in the next solar year.
“The level of rain and snowfall has significantly decreased compared toprevious years, we have established strategic reserves in Herat, Kabul,Balkh, Kandahar and Pul-e-Khumri provinces. We will also work on therehabilitation of the irrigation system. Drought poses serious harm torainfed wheat crops,” said Akbar Rustami, MAIL spokesman.
Agricultural products form a core component of Afghanistan’s nationaleconomy. The country needs over six million tons of wheat every year fromwhich, 4.5 million tones are produced inside the country and the remaining1.5 million tons are imported from abroad.