Food Security in Afghanistan- A Glance at the efforts being made

The condition of food security in Afghanistan is vulnerable and this is the reason that now some efforts are being made, but still no one can reach to the conclusion that it is going to disappear completely quickly.  Food insecurity in the country has caused many deaths in the past and this has also lead many people to leave their homes and search for a shelter in those areas who could at least provide them with the basic food.  The number of the food insecure people in Afghanistan is increasing day and day and it is going to continue like this only if effective measures are not taken.

Adding more to the problem of food insecurity are the soaring prices of the food items that are making it impossible for many to have a meal, once a day.  It is not that the government has not worked for this in the past; it was in the year 2008 only when President Karzai earmarked about $50 million to buying and importing the food items from the various regional markets.  This effort was although made, but the help that the normal public got from it was much less than what was required.  The UN Food Program at that time took the responsibility to control the food insecurity and for this it fed more than 5 million Afghan nationals.

Rebuilding Agriculture Can Be Of Help

The U.S Department of Agriculture is at present providing assistance to ensure that the agricultural sector of Afghanistan is reconstructed in such a way that food insecurity no longer prevails in the prospect.  These reconstruction efforts being made by the U.S government are working in various different sectors so that the overall agricultural sector is recreated. As a part of these endeavors the Afghan people are being trained and assisted in all the possible ways so that the agriculture starts once again.  The experts of the USDA are providing by assisting the people in installing the windmills so that water for both irrigation purposes and livestock can be obtained.

The trained veterinarians are ensuring that they are no pests and pesticides so that the crops could be harvested in a proper manner, without the danger of them being damaged.  The post harvest measures such as availability of the storage space, establishment of nurseries and rehabilitation measures for the orchards that have been degraded are also being made.

There are five different areas on which the USDA is providing the assistance, namely health of the livestock, extension of the agriculture, sanitary and phytosanitary, assuring that the afghan government is strong enough to both protect and manage the rangelands and forests and conserving the biodiversity. The technical experts of the USDA are also providing the Afghan people with the know how about how they have to deal with the seeds, plant trees, manage and maintain their nurseries and conserve both water and sand.

If these efforts really show results, one can hope that the food insecurity in Afghanistan will not stay.