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For far too long, Dehshaikh and Parwana villages in Afghanistan’s Herat province have faced abandonment after recurrent flash floods washed away villagers’ crops, livestock, and homes. But an Islamic Relief project has been helping communities to adapt and flourish.
Ghulam has dedicated most of his life to tending his wheat field in Parwana village. Despite the hardships of farming life, especially during the severe winter seasons, the 55-year-old continues his labour with the help of his 2 sons.
Unlike farmers in neighbouring villages that are less prone to flooding, Ghulam hoped for a dry spell after heavy rainfall which brought destructive floods, washing away his crops and cutting off his access to the market.
Rural farmers use a network of canals to help irrigate agricultural crops. Floods and water seepage frequently damages these canals, which leads to a decrease in efficiency when it comes to transporting water to fields. The little water available often causes disputes among farmers.
“In the past, to fix the damaged sections of the canal and redirect the water flow into multiple sub-canals, we had to hire labourers and purchase wooden stacks and plastic sandbags. It was costly. We were always running out of water as we couldn’t control water losses through seepage, and disagreements about using the water always arose among the farmers,” says Ghulam.
Supporting farmers and their communities
Islamic Relief, in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme has been supporting farmers like Ghulam to repair essential canals in their communities. The Area-Based Approach for Development Emergency Initiative (ABADEI) employed local people to build a 164-metre-long protection wall, a super passage and also canal lining in a project that ran from April 2023 to June 2024.
The rehabilitated systems saved valuable water for both drinking and irrigation for 800 families in Dehshaikh and Parwana villages and created employment opportunities for over 50 community members, boosting the local economy.
The new irrigation system gives farmers 3 times the water they had before with considerably less effort. More water means more food to eat and sell; improving lives and incomes. The project enabled poor rural families unsure of where their next meal would come from to plant crops twice a year, rather than just a single wheat crop, boosting incomes, resilience, and food security.
“Following the completion of the protection wall, my farm has been receiving uninterrupted water flow, allowing me to carry out my farming activities throughout the year,” Ghulam says. “Before the protection wall, the shortage of water was a major problem. Water used to flow away unused, but now we have sufficient water for our crops, and we no longer worry about floods.”
Gulbudin, the village leader has also seen improvement in his community’s quality of life following the construction.
“This project was jointly built for 2 villages of more than 1,500 people. The canal is over 1 century old but has been in bad condition. We are now expanding our fields to include new crops. Our women are considering setting up a kitchen garden to grow vegetables.”
The new farming infrastructural improvements have paved the way for sustainable farming practices, resulting in higher crop production, increased income prospects, and improved food security for the community.
We are continuing to scale up our programmes to support climate-vulnerable rural farmers in Afghanistan to improve their yields and income. You can help us provide vital, life-saving assistance by donating today.
