MAZAR-I-SHARIF – Nooruddin watched helplessly as his flock of 100 sheepbegan to die from hunger and thirst on the dry drought-ravaged hillsides ofBalkh province.
Rather than let more of the prized creatures die a slow death on the dryhillsides of Balkh province in the north, he made the decision to slaughtermost of the rest.
“I cut their heads off,” the 65-year-old herder said, adding that theirmalnourished frames meant their meat was “useless”.
“We fed it to the dogs,” Nooruddin told AFP.
He’s one of many whose traditional livelihoods — from farmers to carpetweavers — are under threat as changing weather patterns wreak havoc.
Experts warn the situation will only get worse, with Afghanistan one of thecountries most vulnerable to climate change, even though it produces just0.1 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.
For many this latest drought is the worst they can recall.
“I’ve seen droughts before, but never as severe,” said livestock traderMirza, who like many residents only uses one name.
“A lot of sheep and animals died on the mountains and in the desert,” the45-year-old added.
Mohammed Aref, a 19-year-old shepherd who raises karakul sheep — famed fortheir curly-haired lambs’ pelts that are turned into traditional hats –said shepherds sold off their emaciated animals for pittance to butchers.
“A lot of us had a big loss,” Aref told AFP from the noisy livestock marketoutside Mazar-i-Sharif, on a crisp, early winter morning.
“Most of us can’t afford to get more (livestock) and now our life isruined.”——————————
*Huge temperature rise *——————————
Aref and other Balkh residents have no notion of climate change as it isunderstood in places with better access to information and education, butall agreed things were changing.
The last big drought they remembered was about a decade ago. Before that,there hadn’t been one for about 50 years, they said.
“We had a drought 12 years ago,” recalled 68-year-old Aynoddin, anotherkarakul sheep farmer, “but last year’s was the worst”.
According to the United Nations Development Programme, about 80 percent ofAfghans rely on rain-fed crop and animal farming for their incomes.
Over the next four decades in Afghanistan, scientists predict a decrease inrainfall and a rise in average temperatures of up to 4 degrees Celsiuscompared to 1999, the UNDP said.
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The agency noted droughts could soon be considered the norm, unleashingfurther desertification and loss of arable land.
Problems are only compounded when rains do eventually come. Last spring,flash floods swept entire villages and fields away.
The UN said in an overview of last year’s aid operations that nearly halfof all rural residents now face some level of food insecurity inAfghanistan, a country where unemployment and poverty are already majordrivers of the war.
While light rains in the autumn eased woes for some, the weather has sincedried up again.
Asked if they worried for the coming year, several farmers gave a commonAfghan response.
“If there is a drought, God will decide, so I don’t worry,” Aynoddin said.——————————
*Looming crisis for weavers *——————————
The Global Adaptation Initiative, run by the University of Notre Dame inthe US, currently ranks Afghanistan 173 out of the 181 countries it scoredin terms of a nation’s vulnerability to climate change and its ability toadapt.
The human cost is plain to see at a camp for internally displaced peoplejust outside Mazar-i-Sharif, where rows of white UN tents house hundreds offamilies and the main source of water is from a large communal tank.
Shamayel, a 35-year-old mother from Faryab province in the northwest, saidher family came to the camp to escape conflict and the drought.
She used to weave colourful traditional kilim rugs, but increasing woolprices made it impossible.
Seven kilogrammes of wool previously cost about $19, she said, but theprice rose to $31 in the past year or two.
Perhaps surprisingly, though, rising wool costs haven’t caused a price jumpfor Afghan rugs and carpets.
Traders in Mazar complained the ongoing uncertainty and anxiety arounddelayed election results and talks between the Taliban and the US haveessentially frozen the market.
Another former weaver at the camp, Ghulam Sakhi, 50, said he too had beenforced to give up his trade when he arrived.
“I want to weave, I miss it,” he said, smiling as he described his craft.”Now I feel useless.” – APP/AFP
