Famine-like crisis looming over Afghanistan, warns senior UN official

Kabul: – Famine-like crisis is looming over Afghanistan. Hence, Afghan farmers are in direly need international agricultural assistance, a senior UN official warned. While this crisis is looming, profits from narcotics farming are on the rise. An Afghan News Agency has warned, as a result, there is a possibility of the Afghan farmers shifting from traditional agriculture to large-scale poppy cultivation.

Richard Trenchard, a representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Rome, drew the world’s attention to the agricultural problems in Afghanistan. Trenchard warned, the situation of farmers in Afghanistan was ‘extremely dire’. Afghan farmers have suffered huge financial losses this year and have had to sell their livestock. Trenchard said Afghan farmers were complaining, their debt burden was increasing and did not have the money even to buy seeds.

Agriculture is the main source of livelihood for the Afghan people. Earlier, the situation of farmers in Afghanistan was not so bad. But Trenchard claimed, a major crisis has plagued Afghans linked to the agricultural sector over the past year. ‘If we want to save the lives of farmers in Afghanistan, we need to provide them with seeds, fertilizers, money and food,’ he said.

According to a report released by the United Nations a few days ago, it has become difficult to feed nearly 20 million Afghans. By the end of the year, this number will go beyond 22.5 million. ‘Draught is exacerbating the plight of Afghans and Afghanistan needs a lot of humanitarian assistance,’ Trenchard appealed. Amid alarming reports about Afghanistan’s traditional agriculture, local news agencies have reported the horrific situation in Afghanistan to the world.

Farmers in the southern Afghan province of Helmand say they will have to abandon traditional farming and grow opium. The Afghan News Agency reported, farmers are turning to poppy cultivation given the huge profits. The Afghan news agency cited a report by the UNODC. The UNODC had said that opium and meth were more in demand in the international market than fresh dry fruits from Afghanistan. Thus, the UNODC had expressed concern that Afghan farmers prefer poppy cultivation to dry fruits. As the Taliban took control of Afghanistan after the US military withdrawal, analysts have expressed concern that Afghanistan could become a hub for narcotics trade.