The humanitarian situation remains grim in Afghanistan owing to the protracted conflict and chronic food insecurity, aggravated, among other things, by rising global food prices. With the winter looming, the ICRC has increased its emergency programmes for impoverished populations.
In northern Afghanistan civilians struggling to cope with the effects of the decades-old conflict have been made even more vulnerable by harsh winter weather and a severe drought that has led to crop failure.
Around 280,000 people are suffering the effects of the worst drought in a decade. With no food, no money to buy seeds, and no guarantee it will rain, the outlook for the winter harvest is bleak in an area that relies on rain-fed farming. Thousands of families are expected to leave their homes in search of food and work.
Their plight is compounded by soaring food prices. Increases in global food prices have resulted in export bans by key regional food exporters, further restricting the flow of food into Afghanistan. Infrastructure problems, including a lack of decent roads, have also contributed to the shortages of food and essential supplies. These factors have worsened the already chronic food insecurity faced by many Afghans. Across Afghanistan, large numbers of people cannot afford to buy essential staples like wheat and rice. The cost of flour, for example, has doubled in less than a year.
Before the onset, in November, of the hostile Afghan winter, the ICRC and Afghan Red Crescent volunteers will distribute 500 truckloads of relief food to people in desperate need in four remote provinces in the north of the country. Food packages containing rice, beans, ghee, sugar, tea and salt will be distributed to families, mainly villagers in places such as Khanabad district, near Kunduz city, who are no longer able to cultivate their land owing to drought.
The enduring nature of the conflict has made life all the harder. Even people living outside areas of open combat are not spared as roadside bombings and suicide attacks are a regular occurrence. Additionally, Afghanistan is one of the most heavily mined countries on earth, claiming on average 62 new victims each month.