Afghanistan’s decimated livestock could take 10 years to regenerate – UN report
Four years of drought and many years of civil strife have decimated livestock in Afghanistan, a major source of income and food for farmers and their families, and it could take up to 10 years for the animal herds to regenerate naturally, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported today.
Four years of drought and many years of civil strife have decimated livestock in Afghanistan, a major source of income and food for farmers and their families, and it could take up to 10 years for the animal herds to regenerate naturally, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported today.
The number of cattle per family has fallen by more than two-thirds, from 3.7 to 1.22 over the past eight years, while that of sheep decreased particularly sharply from 21.9 to 2.9 over the same period, according to the preliminary results of the first livestock census ever conducted in Afghanistan when compared with previous estimates.
"The major challenge now is to maximize the natural regeneration of herds," the FAO Senior Officer, Livestock Development, Simon Mack, said in a statement. "This can be done by ensuring that the animals are healthy and well fed, and that there are adequate breeding males or artificial insemination available.”
Animals were also being imported from neighbouring countries and Mr. Mack warned that without adequate veterinary control there was a risk of spreading infectious diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease and peste des petits ruminants, which could adversely affect the recovery of the national herd. “FAO strongly recommends increasing the capacity of the public veterinary services to manage these disease risks," he said.
The preliminary results show that there are 3.7 million cattle in Afghanistan, 8.8 million sheep, 7.3 million goats, 1.6 million donkeys, 180,000 camels, 140,000 horses and 12.2 million poultry.
The Kuchi nomads and other semi-nomadic pastoralists in the provinces of Ghazni, Zabul, Kabul and Kandahar have been particularly hit by the drought, FAO said. About 60 percent of the Kuchi households have completely lost their livestock. The majority of households have yet to recover.
Meanwhile UN agencies are pre-positioning food, fuel, and non-food stocks in difficult-to-access areas and undertaking other efforts to mitigate the worst effects of winter on vulnerable groups throughout the country. These include road-clearance, and emergency cash-for-work programmes to support additional household costs.
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has pre-positioned 32,000 metric tons of food stocks for around 650,000 people, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is stockpiling tents, blankets, plastic sheets, kerosene stoves, and fuel, and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has pre-placed medical supplies in remote and high-altitude areas to ensure a rapid response to any potential disease outbreak.