Drought, political turmoil lead to low yields for Afghan farmers

Drought combined with political turmoil has led to low yields for farmers in Afghanistan.

The Afghan farmers called on the Taliban regime to provide them with irrigation facilities to save their crops. Expressing frustration over the lack of rain and irrigation for their farms, they urged the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock to look after the problems that will cause a reduction in yield, reported Tolo News.

This comes after the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) reported that humanitarian organizations consider the recent drought in Afghanistan to be the worst one.

"Of Afghanistan's 34 provinces, 25 suffered from drought in 2021, contributing to a 20% decrease in cereal harvest over the previous year," the report said.

The Afghan farmers have sought aid from Abdul Rahman Rashid, Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation, and Livestock for irrigation facilities. "The Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation, and Livestock should help us so that we can do our farming," cited Ghulam Ghaws, an Afghan farmer, Tolo News reported.

Another farmer, Zahoor was quoted as saying, "There was no precipitation. Only some snowfall happened and it just stayed within the mountains. There was no rainfall,"

The statistics of the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation, and Livestock show that over 70 per cent of Afghan farmers still depend on farming for their earnings.

( With inputs from ANI )