Since 2016, Kotwal village in Chinarto district of Uruzgan province is facing severe security challenges constraining any kind of humanitarian assistance including strict movement restrictions for all civilians’ activities. The situation in this area got further aggravated when the Kotwal irrigation canal was used as a trench by cutting and enveloping with surrounding trees as pillars and covering it with tonnes of soil from top to make it safe against any form of external attacks. This also restricted the local farming communities from having access to irrigation water and agricultural lands. The closure of this irrigation canal that spans more than 25 km, resulted in more than 1,600 hectares of agriculture lands being cut-off from assured irrigation with high adverse impacts on the livelihoods of more than 1,200 households.

The population in Uruzgan, particularly in this area is highly dependent on agriculture and livestock to make a living. This coupled with the various recent shocks including the COVID-19 crisis, the continued conflict, unemployment, blockage of roads and complete besieging of some districts with no exemption for access to the basic commodities coupled with the traditional agriculture practices, damaged irrigation systems, the inability of access to irrigation water and agricultural lands, lack of access to certified seeds, and traditional food sources have adversely impacted food and livelihoods security in Uruzgan province. According to the recent Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis report of November 2020, Uruzgan province has been classified as IPC Phase 4 with 45 percent of its total population facing acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 and above).

In an attempt to support the most vulnerable people in the area, FAO’s implementing partner ANRCC along with the local community elders recently facilitated access for the delivery of humanitarian assistance in this affected area. However, this was not an easy job. After several discussions and meetings, the anti-government groups agreed to remove the mines and clear the trenches as well as support the clearing and rehabilitation of the damaged irrigation canal. This was necessary since whatever little amount of water was being released in the irrigation canal was not sufficient to irrigate the agriculture lands resulting in drying up of orchards and adverse impacts of crops. After several rounds of discussions, all stakeholders were convinced of the need for restoration and cleaning of the irrigation canal. FAO, along with implementing partner ANRCC, initiated Cash For Work (CFW) in Kotwal village to restore and clean around seven km of the irrigation canal by employing more than 760 most food insecure persons for 10 working days each. This also resulted in each of these 760 persons receiving USD 50 in the form of wages as per the Food Security and Agriculture Cluster (FSAC) food basket thereby helping cover 50 percent of the households’ need. This intervention was done through the generous support of the Government of Denmark. It aimed to strengthen agriculture production of marginal families, provide cash income to landless people and consequently improve food consumption of the vulnerable households.

Now after four years of hardship, once again the water has flowed in this irrigation canal that resulted in 600 hectares land getting additionally irrigated, reduced water evaporation and water loss, and the village has witnessed 20 percent increase in the agriculture production with some farmers experiencing also increased groundwater levels. In addition, a water user committee is formed which is responsible for the maintenance of the canal and the members also received trainings on disaster risk reduction and infrastructure maintenance. All of this together has resulted in protecting the productive agriculture assets of marginal farming families, enhancing agricultural livelihoods as well as providing cash income to landless / most vulnerable households and consequently food security has improved because of this intervention.