Catastrophic drought looms in Afghanistan

Welthungerhilfe plans long-term support

Bonn, 1st July 2008. Welthungerhilfe is sending out warning signals with regards to the impending drought about to hit northern Afghanistan. Rainfall crucial for sowing failed to come in half of the 34 provinces, while temperatures have soared to 45 degrees since April. People in the provinces of Jowzjan and Faryab, where locals only just got through an extremely harsh winter, are most severely affected. Due to this, supplies are already exhausted and farmers are selling off their livestock because they lack fodder and water to feed them. "The fields and pastures are empty. There is nothing left", reports Uwe Hermann, Welthungerhilfe's Head of Project in the province of Jowzjan. The worldwide rise in food prices only aggravates the problem as people simply don't have the money to buy over-priced wheat.

Many families are sending their males to Pakistan or Iran in order to find work there and send back money to those who have stayed behind. Children are no longer attending school on a regular basis because they are picking up the workload left behind by these absent young men. Private vegetable gardens are also falling victim to the drought, and vegetables crucial to a balanced diet are nonexistent. "If we aren't able to help in the forthcoming weeks, these people are going to starve to death over the winter", warns Hermann. "The next harvest comes in spring 2009."

Over the course of the next few days, Welthungerhilfe is dispatching specialists to the region. Together with local farmers, they will develop strategic measures to make long-term improvements to the living situation of those affected and to help them respond to future droughts more effectively. Welthungerhilfe has been active in the provinces of Jowzjan and Faryab for several years now and helps local farmers provide irrigation for their fields and livestock as well as establishing small loan systems.

Uwe Hermann is available for interviews upon request.

Welthungerhilfe has been working in Afghanistan continuously since 1980., Welthungerhilfe has spent a total of 75 million euros on the implementation of approximately 100 projects. The main focal points of project work are in the north and east with an emphasis on rural infrastructural development such as drinking water supplies, irrigation projects, food security as well as the environment protection and erosion control. In addition, Welthungerhilfe carries out projects in village development as well as the generation of alternative sources of income for opium farmers.

For further information see www.welthungerhilfe.de