FAO helps vulnerable livestock keepers safeguard their livelihood, boost milk production and avoid rural migration in Afghanistan

Landholding in Nuristan province of Afghanistan is for the few. The vast majority of Nuristan’s population rely on livestock production. However, due to climate change and weather extremes, making a living out of it can sometimes feel like finding one’s balance in tightrope walking.

Such was the case for Ziaur-Rahman, a farmer from Nuristan, in late 2019. The spill over effects of the severe drought in 2018 in Afghanistan challenged most livestock owners like him with a shortage of fodder, pasture and overall animal feed resources. Animal feed prices had increased between 50 to 80 percent.

“I was deeply concerned about the survival of my livestock during the harsh winter of Nuristan. At that time, the cost of the fodder needed to safeguard one cattle throughout the season was equivalent to the market price of that one cattle,” says Ziaur-Rahman.

Hence, most livestock keepers started destocking at very low prices or desperately selling all their animals. Incurring in debt was not an option either, since there wasn’t anyone or any institution to take the loan from.

As a consequence, they were losing their livelihood in exchange of short-term liquidity to satisfy their family’s most immediate food needs. Deprived of their livelihood, many livestock keepers were therefore headed with no remedy towards nearby cities like Asad Abad, Jalalabad and Mehterlam, where informal wage labour would be their only means of subsistence.

Sweden’s funding to assist livestock keepers and herders

Thanks to the generous support from the Government of Sweden, FAO conducted a situational assessment together with its implementing partner ZOA to tackle this humanitarian emergency. Together, they quickly assisted the most vulnerable livestock keepers and herders households with a livestock protection package, consisting of 100 kg of concentrated animal feed, deworming and 3 kg of fodder crop seed.

A total of 3 000 livestock households affected by drought in Parun and Wama districts of Nuristan province received this assistance. Another 25 200 livestock-keeping households (242 845 people) were also supported across the other five hardest-hit provinces by the 2018 drought (Badakshan, Badghis, Daykundi, Kandahar and Urozgan).

“We were on the verge of losing our livelihood, but this assistance, when we were in a very difficult situation, has had a positive impact on livestock productivity,” affirms Ziaur-Rahman. Throughout the harshness of Afghanistan’s winter, FAO dewormed 154 356 large and small ruminants (cattle, goats and sheep) belonging to 24 000 smallholder households in all target provinces.

Boosting milk production: improving food security, increasing resilience

For many of the livestock owners assisted, the concentrated animal feed was the sweetest surprise; most of them did not know the benefits of this game-changer animal feed.

“In the beginning, we were not very keen to feed our animals with concentrated feed, as we were not aware of the benefits. It was the first time ever that our community would receive livestock assistance, and it was also the first time we would ever feed our animals with concentrated animal feed,” says Ziaur-Rahman.

In combination with the rest of the livestock protection package, the concentrated feed contributed to an apparent animal weight gain, as well as it increased milk production in up to 60 percent. “My two cows used to produce between 4 and 5 litres of milk per day until I started feeding them with the concentrated animal feed I received from FAO. Ever since, my cows started producing between 7 and 8 litres of milk per day,” says the Afghan livestock keeper as an example. For him, feeding his two cows and four sheep and goats with concentrated animal feed has become a “priority”.

As a result of the increased production, the 3 000 vulnerable households assisted in Nuristan can nowadays include enough milk and dairy products in their day-to-day diet. This superior milk production has also generated an extra cash income through the sale of dairy products; this financial push covers their food, health and first needs, like school materials for their children.

Thinking of the future and La Niña upcoming threat

The assistance provided to Afghan livestock keepers and herders also aimed to increase medium-term resilience. In order to do so, 28 000 vulnerable people have been trained in best practices for sustainable livestock management and fodder crop cultivation.

In turn, local authorities have also realized the potential of concentrated animal feed. “We are looking for an investor to fund a new concentrated animal feed manufacturing plant in Nuristan province,” says Mr Abdul Ghafoor Malikzai, Provincial Governor of Nuristan.

Ziaur-Rahman wishes to have further assistance in order to improve milk processing conditions in stables across Nuristan province. For him, this improvement would represent another step forward towards increasing both livestock productivity and production.

The Nuristani livestock keepers may have to endure yet another extreme weather this year. As forecast by the World Meteorological Organization, the complex weather pattern La Niña threatens Afghanistan with medium to strong intensity drought conditions. Its influence is already showing in the form of fewer precipitations (both rain and snowfall), warmer temperatures and poor vegetative conditions for wheat crop and rangelands, among others. According to the latest FAO analysis, pasture growth, livestock health, wheat cultivation, and groundwater are most likely going to be severely affected. Livestock keepers like Ziaur-Rahman are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance in the form of livestock protection to avoid distress sale and to build resilience against the expected deterioration of agricultural livelihoods over the current wintertime season.

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The Kingdom of Sweden provided generous funding for FAO to improve the food security and livelihoods of drought-affected farmers and pastoralists through enhanced agricultural and livestock production in Badakshan, Badghis, Daykundi, Kandahar, Nuristan and Urozgan provinces of Afghanistan.