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STORY: FAO / AFGHANISTAN WINTER DROUGHT
TRT: 02:10
SOURCE: FAO
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT FAO ON SCREEN
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / DARI / NATS
DATELINE: 08 JANUARY 2026 / SAR-E-POL PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN / RECENT
8 JANUARY 2026, SAR-E-POL PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN
1. Pan right, landscape of dry Afghan mountains
2. Pan left, mountains affected by drought
3. Med shot, herds walking on a dry mountain
4. Pan left, dry landscape with herds
SEPTEMBER 2025, SAR-E-POL PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN
5. SOUNDBITE (Dari) Khalnazar Arbabi, farmer and livestock keeper:
"We raise livestock and farm. We don’t have many animals, just one or two cows and a few goats and sheep. This is our main source of income. If we lose these animals, we will lose everything, and our situation will worsen."
8 JULY 2025, FARYAB PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN
6. Wide shot, cows grazing on dry land
7. Med shot, malnourished cows
8. Med shot, malnourished cow
SEPTEMBER 2025, SAR-E-POL PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN
9. SOUNDBITE (Dari) Khalnazar Arbabi, farmer and livestock keeper:
"This year, we didn’t have any yield due to drought. If we hadn't been supported with animal feed, we would have sold half of our animals by now."
8 JANUARY 2026, SAR-E-POL PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN
10. Wide shot, herds walking on a dry mountain
11. Med shot, herds walking on a dry mountain
12. Close up, dry soil falling from joined hands
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Richard Trenchard, FAO Representative in Afghanistan:
"Agriculture, both the crops and the livestock, is the only buffer, the only shock absorber that we have that enables communities to resist this incessant drumbeat of shock and crisis."
7 JANUARY 2026, SAR-E-POL PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN
14. Wide shot, irrigation canal and cultivated fields
15. Tilt down, man opening the water flow in an irrigation canal
16. Med shot, FAO Representative in Afghanistan meeting farmers
8 JANUARY 2026, SAR-E-POL PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN
17. SOUNDBITE (English) Richard Trenchard, FAO Representative in Afghanistan:
"We know that droughts are coming. We can anticipate them. Check dams that will capture water for livestock, but also for people as well. It'll also help stop the water from just flowing away but going back into the local water table to recharge some of the few wells that are here."
18. Close up, FAO sign on a check dam for rainwater harvesting
19. Top shot, check dam for rainwater harvesting
20. Pan right, check dam for rainwater harvesting
In Afghanistan, snowfall has reached a 25-year low at the start of the 2025/26 wet season, posing a critical threat to livestock and crop production that heavily rely on snowmelt-water, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has warned.
Continued dryness and unusually warm conditions, driven by La Niña, are likely to severely impact livestock pastures and irrigated crops that rely on snowmelt-fed rivers, FAO stated in its latest Seasonal climate and outlook for Afghanistan.
Afghanistan’s rural, agriculture-based economy is already reeling from consecutive seasons of insufficient rainfall and above-average temperatures, which have severely stressed agricultural systems.
SOUNDBITE (Dari) Khalnazar Arbabi, farmer and livestock keeper: "We raise livestock and farm. We don’t have many animals, just one or two cows and a few goats and sheep. This is our main source of income. If we lose these animals, we will lose everything, and our situation will worsen."
In 2025, amid one of the country’s most severe droughts and compounding shocks from unprecedented returns, natural disasters and declining investments, FAO’s agricultural support reached some 14 million people across Afghanistan, providing a vital lifeline through animal feed distributions, large-scale vaccinations for 6.5 million livestock, and essential seed kits to help more than 200 000 families restart their harvests.
SOUNDBITE (Dari) Khalnazar Arbabi, farmer and livestock keeper: "This year, we didn’t have any yield due to drought. If we hadn't been supported with animal feed, we would have sold half of our animals by now."
Afghanistan is expected to remain one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises in 2026. Recurrent climate shocks, displacement, economic fragility and restrictions on women’s participation continue to undermine livelihoods and threaten household resilience.
Recent data show that the number of people facing high levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 and above) is projected to increase from 13.8 million people as of October 2025 to 17.4 million throughout the lean/winter until March 2026—more than a third of the population. Acute malnutrition remains widespread, affecting 3.7 million children under five and 1.2 million pregnant and breastfeeding women.
With assistance declining, overlapping shocks are rapidly eroding coping capacity, leaving households increasingly unable to absorb even minor additional stress.
SOUNDBITE (English) Richard Trenchard, FAO Representative in Afghanistan: "Agriculture, both the crops and the livestock, is the only buffer, the only shock absorber that we have that enables communities to resist this incessant drumbeat of shock and crisis."
To combat the drying landscape, FAO’s response supported almost 25 000 livestock-keeping families with livestock protection packages that reduced animal losses, preserved milk and meat production and strengthened household resilience. These efforts were complemented by large-scale repairs to irrigation canals that have restored water access for over 350 000 families, while reforestation efforts helped stabilize drought-prone soil. Additionally, the construction of check dams and water ponds throughout the country has enhanced the capacity to capture rainwater and floodwater, creating a reliable supplementary water source for pastures, farmland, and livestock.
These measures functioned as a critical shock absorber at a time when jobs, remittances and food assistance were all receding.
SOUNDBITE (English) Richard Trenchard, FAO Representative in Afghanistan: "We know that droughts are coming. We can anticipate them. Check dams will capture water for livestock, but also for people as well. It'll also help stop the water from just flowing away but going back into the local water table to recharge some of the few wells that are here."
Agriculture remains Afghanistan’s most scalable and cost-effective engine for inclusive recovery and a critical system stabilizer. However, these gains are fragile and reversible. Without sustained investment, climate shocks and economic fragility will continue to erode livelihoods and deepen needs.
FAO and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have recently launched a USD 100 million initiative to safeguard food security and nutrition for more than one million Afghans. Over the next two years, the project will assist 151 000 households, including returnees and families affected by earthquakes and climate shocks, to restore livestock and agricultural production disrupted by recent crises.
In 2026, FAO aims to reach 6.7 million people with a blend of lifesaving agricultural support that lays the foundations for long-term agricultural recovery, requiring an investment of USD 183 million.
Note to editors: The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) is the global standard for measuring food insecurity. The scale runs from Phase 1 (Minimal) to Phase 5 (Famine), with IPC Phase 3 indicating a Crisis and IPC Phase 4 an Emergency situation.
