Afghanistan - A Brutally Cold, Hungry Winter

Earlier this week, a friend in Kabul sent me a report by the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), warning of a  possible famine in Afghanistan this winter.

Winter usually offers a reprieve from Afghanistan's seemingly endless conflict, when the brutally cold temperatures impose a temporary truce. (Apparently not even the Taliban enjoy freezing to death.)

Given the escalating violence, including the recent attacks against aid workers, it's unclear whether this winter will be as calm as years past.

At the same time, winter this year threatens its own humanitarian disaster.  Following a "pitiable harvest" caused in part by a severe drought, millions of Afghans risk going hungry.

In August, Oxfam reported that "up to 5 million Afghans face severe food shortages."

The report released last week by RUSI puts the number of those at risk even higher: "an estimated 8.4 million Afghans, perhaps a third of the nation, are now suffering from ‘chronic and transitory food insecurity’."

The Afghan Government and aid agencies have not been able to pre-position adequate food in the most vulnerable areas.  According to one Afghan official: "Snowfall is imminent… aid has not reached the most needy regions."

Part of the reason for this is the deteriorating security situation, which limits the number of areas that aid agencies can access.  So far this year, 31 aid workers have been killed in Afghanistan.

At the same time, there simply isn't enough funding.  The Afghan Government and the UN launched an emergency appeal back in July, when the extent of the food crisis became evident.  Yet as of early October, only 16% of the appeal had been funded.

Personal note - It's hard to describe just how cold Afghanistan gets during the winter.  The winter I was there, I would spend a good portion of each evening staring at the small, dilapidated heater in my room, debating whether it was better to freeze as I slept, or risk asphyxiation from escaping smoke.  Asphyxiation usually won, but not by much.

Actually the worst of both worlds, as the heater would invariably go out about 2:00 in the morning, which meant going to sleep warm and waking up to a room where the temperature huddled around freezing.

And, needless to say, I was living in complete and utter luxury.  I can't imagine what it must have been like in rural areas that winter - especially given reports that even wolves were stalking small villages.

[Photo from the BBC]