AFGHANISTAN: 1,5 million “severely” hit by drought
KABUL, 17 July 2008 (IRIN): At least 1,5 million people in 19 of Afghanistans 34 provinces – mostly farming communities in the north – have been severely affected by drought and are in need of urgent humanitarian relief, an Afghan minister told IRIN.
– About 1,5 million people have lost 70-80 percent of their livelihoods – mostly rain-fed agriculture and livestock – owing to the drought, said Ehsan Zia, minister of rural rehabilitation and development.
The country has about 1,5 million hectares of rain-fed agricultural land which provided one third of domestic cereal production (including wheat, beans, rice and maize) in 2007.
The drought, which officials blame on global warming, has also affected irrigated agricultural land, with yields down 40 percent in many places compared to 2007.
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