AFGHANISTAN: One month to avert mass displacement in Ghor
KABUL, 23 October 2007 (IRIN) - The government of Afghanistan, the UN and humanitarian agencies are expected to assist tens of thousands of food-insecure people in several districts of Ghor province in central-west Afghanistan before the first snowfalls in late November, which usually block the roads, aid workers told IRIN on 22 October.
“People from Taiwara, Pasawand, Shahrak and several other districts [of Ghor] have warned that food aid should reach them by the end of Qaws [late November] or they will [have to] abandon their houses and will migrate to Herat and Kandahar provinces,” said Ghulam Yahya Rasoli, head of the provincial department of the Afghan Red Crescent Society (ARCS).
Up to 45 percent of Ghor’s 635,302 residents are considered to be in acute need of food assistance, a multi-agency Rapid Food Needs Assessment (RFNA) found in October.
Owing to unfavourable weather conditions in the past 10 months, crop production has dropped by up to 70 percent in Ghor province, where agriculture is the principal source of income, the RFNA report stated.
“Following heavy snowfall in the 2006/2007 winter in Ghor province … seasonal wheat planting in early 2007 was delayed and a lack of sufficient rainfall following the planting caused the main harvest in August and September to fail,” the RFNA team reported.
Food shortages
According to the RFNA, conducted by several local government entities, UN agencies and US Agency for International Development (USAID), up to 40 percent of farmers in Ghor are unable to purchase their food requirements and need food assistance.
At the same time, food prices have gone up considerably. The price of wheat flour has risen 115 percent, rice 127 percent and cooking oil 157 percent on 2006, according to statistics used by the RFNA.
To respond to the current level of food insecurity in Ghor, more than 14,000 MT of mixed food aid are needed for the most vulnerable families, aid agencies said.
Wheat flour, cooking oil, pulses and iodised salt are among the most urgent requirements, which should be distributed from December 2007 to April 2008.
Ghor is 2,500m above sea level and heavy snowfalls often block many of its rugged passes from November to April.
To respond to Afghanistan’s nationwide food requirements during the winter season, the National Emergency Response Commission on 8 October announced that more than 20,000 MT of food aid would be pre-positioned in 18 provinces.
Some aid workers, however, say that if the required 14,000 MT of food aid is allocated to Ghor, the remaining planned 6,000 MT would not meet widespread needs across the country.
About 10,000 MT of food aid - part of the overall winter drive - has been delivered and stocked in a number of identified provinces.
“More food aid will be delivered, particularly to Ghor province, in the near future,” said Aleem Siddique, a UN spokesman in Kabul.
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Copyright © IRIN 2007
This material comes to you via IRIN, the humanitarian news and analysis service of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the United Nations or its Member States.
IRIN is a project of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
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