Agencies struggle to avert starvation in north

While the plight of some 116,000 displaced families in Afghanistan's northern provinces raises justifiable concern, the head of WFP in Mazar-i-Sharif warns that conditions in the villages are equally poor. He predicts that up to one million people face starvation in Afghanistan's northern provinces this year. In an attempt to avert mass displacement and widespread starvation, UN agencies, the ICRC and NGO's have been increasingly targeting their limited resources to rural areas, particularly Baghlan and Kunduz provinces, which have high numbers of conflict-related displaced. One aim has been to ease the burden of displaced families on impoverished host communities. The strategy is also intended to stimulate agricultural activity, in the hope that the spring harvest will bring some respite to the devastating effects of a two-year drought. Thomas Hoerz, head of WFP sub-office told IRIN that relief aid was being used to underpin farming and rural rehabilitation. "We have to put our resources into supporting agriculture and animal husbandry. Every ton that goes out to the districts can potentially support agricultural activities. This is where the sustainability lies. People are starving in the rural districts. Give them some food, and they can start getting on with work," he said. WFP started targeting rural communities in July last year, when the full effect of the drought in Afghanistan's “hunger belt” became apparent. Although one third of WFP's aid is still distributed to Mazar, the rest is used in 63 rural districts across the northern regions. One-off food drops have been followed up with food-for-work and food-for-education projects. Since July, 120,000 men have been employed, each earning 35 kg of wheat for two weeks' work. For 6 kg of wheat a day, an amount that only a year ago had been considered insufficient reward, the workforce has repaired roads and buildings and de-silted canals. With daily wages down to 20 percent of their former value, WFP considers that the food-for-work programmes, which aim to repair 1,399 wells and 400 km of road, have contributed to keeping people employed and engaged in rural areas. Hoerz said that displaced families were integral to the schemes. "If the displaced can be gainfully employed improving roads or clearing irrigation canals with the help of food-for-work projects, then they’re seen as bringing some benefit to the community. For example, it’s giving people confidence to plant seeds, strengthening them to do work, and is preventing animals from being slaughtered for food," he said. Engineer Ghulan Ali of the ICRC said that providing assistance to rural areas to encourage farmers to stay on the land was right and the displaced had to be helped where they were to stop onward movements. So far the strategy appears to be working. With access to local markets and able to benefit from a concerted relief effort, conflict-affected families displaced in Baghlan province are staying put. One 11 year-old displaced girl told IRIN that her father, with his horse and trap, usually worked one day every two weeks, which was enough to provide for "tea and bread". Other displaced in a dilapidated faculty of Baghlan University had also received supplies of coal and US $3 donation per family from the local authorities. In Baghlan a kilogram of wheat costs 85 cents. This is enough money for an average family to buy food for one or two weeks. In drought affected Charkent district, southern Balkh, the local governor said that 100 families had returned to the area after the Swedish Committee announced that it intended to distribute seeds. He also added that a few families had recently travelled to Mazar on the chance that WFP bakery cards were available. Relief aid, only intended as a supplement to existing food intake and resources, is rapidly becoming the main source of support for displaced and rural communities in the region as people struggle to recoup something of a harvest this year. But WFP and NGO partners say that their resources are woefully inadequate to cope with the predicted scale of the food crisis. Despite his best efforts, Hoerz predicts that conditions are likely to worsen in the coming months, with severe and acute malnutrition expected. He said the figures for chronic malnutrition, especially stunting in children, were reminiscent of North Korea. "These are people who cannot obtain enough protein, fat, or calories. No matter what they do, they cannot meet their minimum cereal needs," he said. Whether the harvest will improve the situation remains to be seen. Agricultural experts predict it will take years for the northern areas to recover from drought, with relief aid likely to play a key role this year. But it appears that there is nowhere near enough to go round. In a briefing in New York on Wednesday, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, Kenzo Oshima, who visited Afghanistan in February, told reporters that US $250 million was urgently required if the crisis in Afghanistan was to be prevented from developing into a full scale catastrophe.