21/01/2020, Kabul, Afghanistan - The Kingdom of Denmark through the Royal Danish Embassy in Kabul and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) have joined hands to provide emergency assistance to more than 129,000 vulnerable and food insecure farmers and their families in five food insecure provinces of Afghanistan, namely Badakhshan, Daikundi, Ghor, Herat and Uruzgan.

Under this new project, the vulnerable small holder farmers in the most food insecure areas will receive agricultural inputs such as improved wheat seeds and fertilizers and trainings on improved agriculture practices so that they can rebuild their agricultural livelihoods and enhance their resilience to future shocks. These small holder farmers will also receive kitchen gardening and vegetable cultivation kits that will help them have access to additional food and nutrition sources.

To help the most food insecure families to recover from the shocks and rebuild their community water structures, the project will assist them with cash to support the construction of soil-water conservation and flood protection walls.

Through these interventions, the most vulnerable farming households that are still affected by 2018 drought and the ones  affected by 2019 floods, specifically women-headed households, will be prioritized for the support.

The project will be implemented by FAO in close collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation, and Livestock (MAIL). The project is supported by the Government of the Kingdom of Denmark, which has provided funding of approximately USD 3 million for its implementation.

“Food security situation is still a concern since Afghanistan still faces crisis. Many households have still not recovered from the devastating effects of the 2018 drought and have been relying on irreversible coping mechanisms that affect their ability to recover from the crisis. We hope that with this support we could enhance the resilience of the affected farmers”, said H.E. Hashmatullah Ghafoori, MAIL Deputy Minister.

“I am pleased to announce Danish support through FAO of nearly USD 3 million for improving food security and nutrition in Afghanistan. Food security and livelihood crisis are affecting millions of citizens in Afghanistan. Denmark together with other donors are joining efforts to respond to the emergency needs of Afghans affected by drought and flooding, said H.E. Michael Lund Jeppesen, Danish Ambassador to Afghanistan”.

“A large number of the population is food insecure and this is due to a combination of chronic vulnerability and the prominent impacts of 2018 drought”, said FAO Representative in Afghanistan, Rajendra Aryal. “An immediate response is needed to mitigate further impoverishment, malnutrition and migration. I would like to express my sincere thanks to the Government of Denmark for their timely and generous support. I believe this assistance will positively impact on improving the agriculture-based -livelihoods of the vulnerable farmers in the five provinces”, Aryal further added.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis indicates that approximately 14 million people are estimated to be in crisis or emergency levels of food insecurity (IPC 3 and 4) during the first months of 2020 in Afghanistan (Flowminder population projections). e. Out of these, an estimated 2.4 million are in dire need of emergency livelihoods assistance nationwide, and these people require urgent action to protect their livelihoods and restore their productive capacity severely affected by multiple shocks.