Southern communities reeling from drought

With 90 percent of farmers in the southern Afghan provinces in “great debt” as a result of the ongoing drought, a UN official has warned that further internal displacement is expected this summer. Further compounding the problem, continued water scarcity could mean that many of the 23,000 displaced families, mainly Kuchi nomadic pastoralists, may be unable to return to traditional grazing lands in the near future, the official maintained.

Leslie Oqvist, UN Regional Coordinating Officer based in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, told IRIN that drought-affected communities were taking desperate measures.
Families from Nimruz and Helmand provinces had been registered in displacement camps as far away as Herat, in western Afghanistan.

In one instance, an enterprising Afghan had convinced 300 families to form a makeshift camp to attract international agencies. “One day we learnt that there was a new camp nearby. On investigation, we discovered that one Afghan had promised them food and support in exchange for 60 US cents per family. But soon after the group had gathered, the local authorities disbanded them and forced the Afghan to hand back the cash,” he said.

According to a recent WFP/FAO crop assessment report, tensions were high between local farmers and dislocated Kuchi nomads. Unable to move along traditional routes between winter and summer pasture lands, Kuchi tribes were stranded beside local roads and settlements, it said. The shortage of grazing land due to the ongoing drought had resulted in “meagre grazing for both the farmers’ stock and Kuchi herds”. With Kuchi herds not allowed to graze on local farmers’ lands, many had moved to displaced or refugee camps near Quetta, in southwestern Pakistan. Others gathered weeds and grass near their tents to feed their animals, the report said.

Livestock herds had suffered “substantial depletion” as a result of the destruction of pasture, and water shortages. Oqvist maintained that a sustainable approach to preserving and rebuilding herds was essential, otherwise history would be repeating itself in the future. “Rains will come sooner or later, but the issue will be how to use the scarce water resources more effectively. Drought has been known to wipe out entire civilisations,” he said.

Although the drought phenomenon is expected to eventually end, its prolonged effect raises questions for the future of the nomadic Kuchi who had been displaced and were now living in tents near settlements or along roads. Oqvist said the traditional watering holes - the karezes - were drying up, and international efforts were focused on constructing wells in villages that would serve both the local and Kuchi communities. But this year, many of these wells were also depleted. According to the latest surveys, the water table in parts of southern Afghanistan had dropped eight metres in two years.

“We need to look at digging diesel tube wells, which are very expensive and not good for the environment. But soon the only way to get water up will be through power pumps”, he said. International agencies were exploring the possibility of solar-powered wells, and a prototype was currently being tested in the UN office in Kandahar.

With Kuchi families so destitute, many would not be able to return to their traditional lands for years, placing further strain on local resources, Oqvist said. Although essential, prolonged relief assistance carried its own complications. “If we provide too much help, the displaced may become too settled and never return,” he warned.

The Deputy Coordinator of UN Afghanistan, Antonio Donini, said the plight of the Kuchi was tragic. “They are one of the world’s last truly nomadic people. If their way of life vanishes, it would be a great loss to world culture,” he said.