MRRD CCAP Drought Response Summary Progress Report June 28 2021

Background

Afghanistan experienced a winter with approximately half of the expected regular snow and rainfall this year in some parts of the country. According to joint assessments led by the government of Afghanistan, there are 78 districts (or 7,316 rural communities) which have been identified as drought-affected areas. Farmers and herders in these districts worry about insufficient water to sustain their harvests, raising fears of crop failures and food shortages that could push people to sell their herds much cheaper than expected and force residents to leave their villages. The 2008 and 2018 droughts brought lessons to the government, the humanitarian agencies and the people affected by drought which had led to severe economic shocks including major displacements. In order to prevent similar experiences, MRRD/CCAP has proactively started targeting drought affected districts under its Grain Banks and Social Inclusion Grant (SIG) interventions in areas identified by the government as drought-affected. In coordination with the Afghanistan National Disaster Management Agency (ANDMA), CCAP is providing Social Inclusion Grants to communities to help mitigate food shortages for the poorest, most vulnerable households.  These grants allow communities to purchase food and supplement community grain banks to prevent hunger and starvation during times of shock such as droughts, floods, earthquakes and other natural disasters, and during the lean season. MRRD is undertaking an assessment now to see if cash-for-work assistance needs to be augmented in these drought-affected areas, either in CCAP or REACH areas.

CCAP Drought Response Activities - 2021

Under this intervention, MRRD/CCAP has rolled out to 3,184 drought-affected communities out of which SIG and grain bank assistance has been completed in 2,373 communities in 29 districts of 8 provinces so far, benefiting 27,480 HHs (192,360 people) with a total fund of around USD 2 million.  CCAP is currently assisting 44 percent of the most drought-affected communities in the country to cope with the drought.   These interventions have responded to the immediate needs of the vulnerable HHs for now with funds reserved to respond as there are more needs reported from these areas due to drought particularly in the lean season. Please see below table for details.

CCAP MRRD Ongoing Drought Coverage - 2021

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