Emergency alerts loom as drought takes hold in war-torn Afghanistan

KABUL: Afghanistan faces the threat of serious drought this year after recording the lowest snowfall and rain in years over the winter, officials said on Monday, with at least 20 of 34 provinces already suffering badly.

The 20 provinces in the war-torn country saw a 60 percent shortfall in rain and snowfall during the winter season. “This year drought has reached a level that we will have to announce an emergency in several parts of the country,” said Hashmat Khan Bahaduri, spokesman for the Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority in Kabul.

Bahaduri said funds would be allocated to mitigate the impact but that the country would have to import, or receive donations, to overcome food shortages.According to Famine Early Warning Systems Network, a group set up by USAID to help planning for humanitarian crises, snowfall in Afghanistan´s last winter season was the lowest since 2002.Snowmelt is an important source of water for crops and irrigation in a country where food is scarce for many households.