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Afghanistan, 2009

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Fiche Year: 
2009
  • Population: 25.067 million (2005) (Source: UNDP-HDR 2007/2008). It is however important to stress that there has not been a full census done since 1979. As such, it is difficult to have reliable figures on the population and different sources refer to different figures.
  • GNI or GDP: USD 11,709 million (2008/09) (Source: IMF)
  • ODA: USD 2992.72 million (2007 Source: OECD)
  • HDI Ranking: 181/182 (UNDP –statistical update 2009)
  • Employment: after decades of conflict, which is still ongoing in areas of the country, unemployment rate is still very high, particularly in insecure areas. Agriculture still plays a fundamental role being source of employment to some 80% of the population and contributing more than 35% to the country’s GDP (though opium is not considered in such calculations). The country is largely agriculture based with a high proportion of own-account workers and unpaid family helpers in low productivity work in agriculture. Women still largely remain outside of the labor force as the inactivity rate for women stood at more than 70%, versus less than 12% for men. With 47% of the total population under the age of 15, increasing decent employment opportunities will be vital for stability. The country lacks sufficient data and needs support to collect and analyze labor market information.
    (Sources: ILO, Key Indicators of the Labor Market, 6th edition, September 2009 and CIA World Fact book, 2009.)
  • Remittances as share of the GDP: n.a. (World bank, July 2009 based on 2007 data)
  • Inflation rate: Overall CPI inflation reached a peak of 43.1 percent (y/y) in May 2008, owing to high food inflation (66.1 percent), and it has declined thereafter. In September 2009, overall CPI inflation and food inflation were to -15.0 percent and -21.9 percent, respectively
  • % of food insecure people: 35-40%
  • Production: While the 2009 harvest was forecasted to be well above normal, Afghanistan
    continues to be a food deficit country and even in good years, pockets of poor harvests exist in many areas
    • Import: one third of total domestic consumption (2008)
    • Export: wheat, fruits, nuts, mutton
  • Afghanistan figures in the WTO list of net food- importing developing countries (NFIDCs) subject to an annual monitoring of the follow-up to the Marrakesh Ministerial Decision.
  • Food insecurity sources:: (1) global soaring food price, local food price increases; (2) highly volatile (rain fed) agriculture production; (3) poor 2008 wheat crop, due to drought; (4) unstable security situation and poor internal transport; and (5) export restrictions (bans/taxes) by countries (Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Iran) that are traditional sources of import.
  • Right to food: Afghanistan has ratified the following international human rights treaties which recognizes the right to food: the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Art.11-(1) & (2)), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (Art. 24-(2)-(c) and (e) and Art. 27 (3)) and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (Art. 12(2)). Upon request of the Afghan Government, FAO Afghanistan plans, through normative framework development, to support the Government in mainstreaming a Right to Food based approach into ongoing policies, strategies and relevant programmes, etc. (source: FAO and OHCHR). Moreover, UNAMA Human Rights/OHCHR has conducted a right to food monitoring project in 2009.
  • Affected Population: Lack of rainfall further impacts production in rain fed areas. Food security continues to be a critical priority need in 2009 and will remain so in 2010. High food prices are still a concern, local wheat prices seem to have stabilized since early 2009, but remain around 40-45% above the pre-high food price crisis. Terms of trade, for both urban and rural households, while improved since the height of the high food price crisis, also remain worse than pre-crisis levels. Simultaneously the terms of trade for livestock and wage laborers have declined over the same period; hence, many people will continue to rely on social safety nets. Malnutrition is extremely high, with chronic malnutrition at 59.3% and underweight at 32.9%. Moreover, a recent intensification of the conflict has resulted in greater numbers of battle displaced people; currently the IDP rate stands at 230,000 people of which some 150,000 will require food assistance.
Government Responses: 
  • Poor food consumption: + 16% increase in households since 2006. An additional est. 2.5 million people (1.4 million in rural areas and 1.14 million in urban areas) require food assistance. The number of people not meeting their minimum daily kilocalories intake has increased since 2005, but still 35% of the population currently does not meet its food needs in terms of calories and 46% in terms of dietary diversity. 31% of the Afghan population is food insecure, while 23% of the population is considered borderline food insecure. Breaking the numbers down, the food insecure or borderline insecure are 24% urban, 39% rural, and 46% Kuchi (nomads).
  • Severe food access problems: 29% of households face severe food access problems.
    Reportedly, in June 2009, households in the west-central part of the country spent more than 75% of their incomes on food, while the average national proportion of income spent on food is 67
  • Most Vulnerable: displaced people; returning refugees and deported migrants; female-headed households and war widows; the nomadic Kuchis; disabled heads of households and the chronically poor. UNAMA Human Rights/OHCHR’s 2009 right to food monitoring project found that women (and not necessarily female-headed households, but females in families where the men have good access to adequate food) have disproportionate access to adequate food, even if the household is not considered vulnerable.

Agriculture:

  • Rehabilitation of irrigation and water management;
  • Improvements in input supplies (certified seeds and fertilizers) and extension;
  • Raising agricultural productivity and resilience to shocks (integrated natural resource management approaches, sustainable land use practices within watersheds, etc
  • Capacity building of government staff working on the Government planned Strategic Grain Reserve in areas frequently affected by natural disasters by rehabilitating and reconstructing silos and regional warehouses with equipment for proper food storage and handling.
  • Assistance with the establishment of community based storage facilities is needed, to help reduce the post-harvest losses as well as maximize selling prices.
  • Additionally integration of smallholder and low income farmers into the market through the purchase of their produces at remunerative prices for food assistance operations.
  • Support to establish private sector processing plants which will use local produce for the production of fortified biscuits and blended food.
  • Provision of affordable microfinance products and services;
  • Improvements in access to animal vaccines and veterinary services;
  • Improvements in land tenure rights and the management of common property resources;
  • Promoting investments in wheat storage and milling capacity in the private sector;
  • Need for promotion of agricultural production, infrastructure and change from illicit to licit crops as well as support to sustainable development of local food security systems and the country’s capacity to reduce hunger;
  • Cut post-harvest losses and Integrated Pest Management.

Safety nets:

  • Afghanistan currently lacks a well-developed safety net system. Initially, system design should develop a basic structure consistent with the country’s administrative and fiscal capacity, paying explicit attention to targeting and delivery mechanisms.
  • Subsequent safety net program implementation should include the development of institutional capacity, payment systems, staffing/administrative arrangements, and public information campaigns.

Elements for strategic response:

  • Encourage production of high-value, income elastic export commodities (major dried fruits and nuts) to spur agricultural income;
  • Ensure reliable power, water supplies, transport;
  • Improve security of land tenure and access to unutilized government land;
  • Develop a National Sustainable Land Management Framework centered on community-based integrated watershed development ;
  • Engage in developing a national strategy on social protection;
  • Improve access to market through access to inputs, local purchases and capacity building
  • Improved access to financial services especially for smallholders;
  • Improved agriculture and livestock extension service system;
  • Improve access to quality agriculture inputs;
  • Affordable communications networks
  • Gender aspects of access to food
  • Improved accountability and access to justice; Abuse of power (no functional judicial system, land use, access to markets etc), corruption (food aid), discrimination (women’s access etc), and lack of person security all affect the enjoyment of the right to food

Government actions and planned actions:

  • The Government efforts are guided by the Afghanistan National Development Strategy (ANDS) and the recently launched National Agriculture Development Framework (NADF)
  • In Afghanistan’s 2008/09 budget, US$20 million is set aside as contingency fund for emergencies
  • Lowered the tariff on wheat imports from 2.5 % to zero, and reduced tax on staple food items.
  • Earmarked US$50 million to buy and import food items from regional markets
  • Government-to-government contracts are being negotiated to import wheat from Pakistan and Kazakhstan.
  • The Government has increased efforts of procuring food both locally and regionally. Following the drought and high food price crisis in 2008, the Government sought to purchase significant quantities of wheat from neighboring countries in order to respond to immediate needs and establish the beginning of a strategic grain reserve. In 2009, following a strong harvest, the Government also began to purchase food locally for the same purposes.
  • The Government wants to establish a strategic grain reserve.
  • The Government has expressed strong interest in scaling up irrigation investments.
  • Expanding the agricultural regeneration plan through distribution of subsidized improved seeds, fertilizers and insecticides.
  • Comprehensive Agriculture and Rural Development
  • Emergency Horticulture and Livestock Programmed (EHLP)
  • Expand the number of seed enterprises and increase availability of improved wheat seed.
  • Distribution of 27,000MT of improved wheat seed together with fertilizer to 550,000 farmers (joint program with partners).
International Community: 

Joint UN system response:

Two Joint Emergency Appeals were made during 2008; the first in January 2008 which was fully funded. The second was in July 2008, to cover the period August 2008 to July 2009. In January 2009, the appeal was folded into the Humanitarian Action Plan (HAP). The second appeal was also largely covered and the HAP is currently about 66.4% funded (UNOCHA).Rapid appraisal (under EC) was conducted in October 2008

Short-term measures:

  • Identifying the most vulnerable areas and groups
  • Scaling up existing safety net programs such as the cash voucher programme or in-kind food assistance, particularly in urban areas
  • Private sector involvement in the wheat trade
  • Refocusing the existing food-for-assets programme on activities that improve both agricultural production and productivity through an integrated watershed management approach.
  • Capitalize on the private sector involvement in the grain market through the Purchase for Progress (P4P) initiative.
  • Establishment of strategic grain reserves at local and national levels while linking supply side interventions in agriculture with social services such as building irrigation infrastructure and schools/classrooms while ensuring access by the most vulnerable through cash/food wages and food for education programs

Medium/longer-term policies

  • Safety nets, including targeted cash transfers to vulnerable people via:
    • (i) a targeting system;
    • (ii) cash payment mechanism;
    • (iii) administrative capacity;
    • (iv) fiscally sustainable resources;
    • (v) incentives/co-responsibility through cash-for-work or other conditional cash transfer programs; and
    • (vi) Strong leadership and effective governance.
  • Improve the functioning of already existing systems and, building on experience with food-for-work, transform these into cash-for-work programs, suitable for responding to emergencies.
  • Liberalize domestic trade and improve domestic food distribution networks.
  • Stimulate food supply of food while interlinking agriculture-market-safety net opportunities:
    • Improve wheat productivity through investments in irrigation, seed, fertilizer, mechanization, and agricultural research and extension.
    • Increase production of higher-value cash crops, providing the rural population with more cash income and through safety nets, promote income generation measures, and increase purchasing power to buy wheat for their consumption.
Continued Support: 

Continued Support potential by HLTF members sorted by CFA outcomes

Further Pledges: 

Further commitments/pledges/investment from international community

Comment: 

75 per cent of the Government’s budget is from external aid, over which the Government has no control, but is rather disbursed by donors. This inevitably affects the Government’s decision-making power over how resources are used. This has formed part of the critique around the Government’s agricultural policy, considered by some to be donor driven, resulting in an incoherent policy and dominated by an agribusiness approach which risks being to the detriment of small farmers

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