A FAO/WFP Assessment Mission sent to Afghanistan in May has returned from the field warning that drought has put millions of Afghans in danger of starvation.

July 3, 2001- A third successive year of drought has left Afghanistan teetering on the brink of widespread famine and placed the lives of millions of people at risk.

A joint FAO/WFP Crop and Food Supply Assessment mission sent to Afghanistan in May has returned from the field warning that the almost total failure of the 2001 harvest means some five million people will require humanitarian food aid to survive.

With worsening economic conditions undermining Afghanistan's own capacity to fill the hunger gap with imports, WFP estimates a cereal deficit of one million tonnes.

"Given the scale and magnitude of the food crisis facing Afghanistan, the mission urges the most urgent international response to avert an imminent catastrophe," warned the report.

NEAR FAMINE CONDITIONS

The assessment discovered near famine conditions. In areas such as Faryab province in northern Afghanistan and the western provinces of Badghis and Ghor, the poorest families have already resorted to the consumption of wild grasses.

Virtually the entire country has been affected with few people spared from the crisis, although the Western basin is more seriously affected than the Eastern one. To make matters worse, most of the worst-hit areas lie in remote locations which are extremely difficult to reach.

The issue of life-saving is going to be crucial
WFP/FAO mission report

In a nation where 85 percent of the population depend on agriculture for survival, three consecutive years of winter rain failure are taking a severe toll on food security. Low rain and snowfall means few families have produced enough foodstocks of their own to see out the crisis. It is estimated that one half of Afghanistan's irrigated area is out of use.

"The issue of life-saving is going to be even more crucial this year than it was last year," continued the report, "rains normally start in October/November. Even if precipitation improves in the next season, wheat harvests will not be available until May / June 2001."

Lack of employment opportunities inside and outside the agricultural sector is also severely limiting access to food through the markets. Fewer and fewer Afghans are able to buy their way out of the hunger crisis.

The vulnerable Afghans, who are heavily dependent on livestock as an economic resource, are liquidating their animals - either to sell for cash or for food. Herders or kuchis have already sold off entire herds and their livelihoods are now in tatters.

ROCK-BOTTOM POVERTY

In an exceptional move last March, which underlined the severity of the growing crisis, WFP consolidated its current emergency and development projects into a single all-encompassing operation aimed at 3.8 million people, including half-a-million IDPs.

The new operation, which is almost fully funded, was due to end in June 2002. However, the rapidly deteriorating situation has forced the Agency to accelerate the rate of its distribution from 15,000 tons per month to 30,000 tons. A new emergency operation will be launched shortly to cover the expanding needs.

WFP operations are also feeding 60,000 Afghan refugees in camps in Pakistan and a further 24,000 in Iran.

WFP priorities in Afghanistan:
	Prevent development of famine and save lives
	Stop further deterioration of health and nutrition in worst-hit areas
	Stem mass migration to cities and neighbouring countries

WHO BENEFITS?

WFP Afghanistan plans to target 30 percent of the drought-affected population, although this figure will rise to 60 percent in provinces such as Badghis and Ghor.

Afghan households in rural areas, where virtually all agricultural production has failed, are considered the most vulnerable. Food aid will place special emphasis on sharecroppers and small landowners, kuchis or herders and female-headed households.

The ever-increasing 450,000 IDP population will also require assistance. Additional mixed commodities are required for supplementary feeding centres throughout the country, expected to require to treat up to 300,000 severely malnourished people, mostly children .