Bringing Hope to Drought Stricken Children

The prolonged lack of rain and resultant shortage of water in western Afghanistan over the past couple of rain seasons has triggered stress and livelihood shock in the farming communities of Badghis district. Because of this ongoing drought, farmers have had to delay planting seasons each year, but the continued low rainfall during the growing season of 2011 meant that the majority of the wheat crop failed. This failure has had a devastating effect on the people and one which threatens to impact on the communities for years to come.

A need assessment survey conducted in July 2011 identified a number of concerns, including:

• water sources are drying out
• there is a decline in school attendance because children are needing to contribute to the family income by working so that they can eat
• there is a high infant mortality and morbidity rate: (in Afghanistan), more than 40% of child deaths are due to diarrhoea and acute respiratory infection
• water sources are unprotected and contain unsafe water
• people do not know how, and are not purifying unsafe water

 In order to break the negative impacts of these annual droughts, existing natural water sources need to be protected, well-placed water catchments need to be built and irrigation structures need to be enhanced.

But establishing new potable water infrastructure will not improve health indicators without complementary behaviour change training. Working at a grass-root level through Afghan health workers it is hoped that we can encourage preventive health measures by integrating hand washing and hygiene practices, promoting exclusive breast-feeding, and introducing water purification treatments.

The people of Badghis province are primarily agrarian; for centuries their communities have been dependent upon agriculture. By diversifying these community’s sources of income through the introduction of new cash crops and income generating activities, it is hoped that their level of food security can be enhanced.

This community-based approach: (partnering with existing community management structures, identifying and building on existing human and social capacity) seeks to address the malnutrition and promote healthy behaviours by enabling families to sustain the rescue of malnourished children at home by identifying affordable, acceptable, effective and sustainable practices that are already used by at-risk people and that do not conflict with local culture.

By these initiatives, we are aiming to participate in the recovery and stabilization of rural communities in Badghis, halt the increase of child mortality, diversify the crops and increase the household incomes, introduce risk reduction mechanisms, and bring hope to people suffering from the effects of prolonged and recurrent drought.