Re-Imagining the 2018 Afghanistan Drought Response
In 2018, over 170,000 people were displaced in Afghanistan’s western region after drought conditions adversely affected livelihoods, forcing locals into chronic food insecurity. Assessments conducted by humanitarian NGOs and aid agencies indicated that insufficient access to water and fodder culminated in crop failure and livestock mortality, respectively. The socio-economic demographic of western Afghanistan is typically comprised of subsistence farming, the prevailing majority of such households struggling to absorb shocks caused by natural disasters. As a prolonged dry spell developed into a drought, local farmers relied on distress mechanisms including limiting food consumption, marrying-off their daughters at a young age, and liquidating assets to buy food.
This study was conducted to answer the following question: What would the drought response have looked like if its key long-term objective had been to prevent a protracted displacement scenario? Through a desk review of relevant documents and a series of Key Informant Interviews (KIIs), this study returns to the chain (or indeed gaps) in the decision-making process that led to a crisis with such protracted displacements. It also presents a set of recommendations, primarily addressed to the humanitarian community and the Afghan government.
Please click here (English) or here (Dari) to view a PDF version of the report.