The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has today received notice of additional funding of more than USD 1.85 million from the Government of Japan to improve access and availability of nutritious food for vulnerable and food-insecure smallholder households in Afghanistan as well as protecting their livestock.

The resources will fund a 12-month emergency project beginning January 2023. It will support 42 700 people from Kapisa province (Hissa-e-Awali Kohistan and Nijrab districts) and Panjshir province (Rukha and Darah districts) who are food insecure and depend on livestock and poultry as source of food and income.

“We are pleased to announce additional funding from the Government of Japan to FAO to continue supporting the most vulnerable livestock keeping households in Panjshir and Kapisa Provinces to be food and nutrition secure,” said Japan Ambassador to Afghanistan, Takashi Okada.

Livelihood protection

This new project will protect key productive livestock assets and sustain subsistence production of nutritious food to ensure greater availability of dairy and meat products for households and communities as well as to mitigate the adverse impacts of recent multiple shocks including drought, floods and economic crisis, whilst enhancing household food and nutrition security and building the resilience of farmers against future shocks.  

It will bolster both availability and access to nutritious food for the vulnerable and food insecure smallholder households by protecting their vital livestock–based livelihoods through the distribution of nationally produced quality feed.  The project will also provide farmers with key technical training and increase their access to local veterinary extension services.  Backyard poultry packages, which include includes chicken, feed and coops will also enable households to improve their nutritional food intake and help generate vital cash incomes, as well as stimulate local food markets. 

“We welcome the timely and continuous support of the Japanese Government in our work to secure Afghanistan’s food future. Responding to the deep food insecurity crisis with short-term emergency assistance is vital.  But at the same time, now is the time to start laying foundations for the longer-term sustainable production of nutritious food for current and future needs, enabling households to re-build productive livelihood assets and stimulate local markets,” said Richard Trenchard, FAO’s Representative in Afghanistan.

In 2022, the Government of Japan contributed USD 14 million to FAO in Afghanistan to provide direct humanitarian assistance to over 550 000 food-insecure people in 11 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces in cooperation with Japan International Cooperation Agency.

Afghanistan’s food security situation

Afghanistan remains one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. It is estimated that a record 28.3 million people will need humanitarian and protection assistance in 2023, a massive two thirds of the total population, up from 24.4 million in 2022 and 18.4 million in 2021.

Food insecurity is the main driver of humanitarian need, an estimated six million people at emergency levels.  A third consecutive drought – in a country in which more than 70 percent of the population live in rural areas – the second year of crippling economic decline and the deep legacy of decades of conflict, recurrent natural disasters and COVID-19 have all contributed to the engulfing crisis affecting millions of Afghan men, women and children across Afghanistan’s 34 provinces.