APR submitted a proposal to our generous partner the Lady Fatemah Trust in early March with details of relief projects in Herat, Afghanistan. The proposal covered various projects including hand water pumps, irrigation and income generation. This update provides further background details to the relief projects in Khaja Khalifah, Khawaja Ahmed, Joykath and Saidurn villages in the district of Guzara.
Guzara district of Herat, Afghanistan
Guzara District is situated in the centre of Herat Province, Afghanistan, 10 km south of Herat. It borders Injil District to the north, Pashtun Zarghun District to the east, Adraskan District to the south and ZindaJanDistrict to the west. The district centre of Guzara is on the main road which leads from Herat to Kandahar.
Currently there are no exact figures for the size of the population in Guzara, the last survey of the population was conducted in 2005 which quotes the population at 124,900. However with a large influx of repatriated refugees settling in the region the figure will surely reach and possibly exceed 150,000.
The villages are all predominately farming communities; it is their primary source of income and livelihood. A decade of continuing drought and ongoing conflicts have slowly eroded the economy and essential water supply. Farmers have been left with dry barren farmland which over the years has become difficult to cultivate, because of the hardening soil with no water to irrigate the parched land.
Farmers have managed to grow some crops by segregating some of their land into small manageable patches 10 metres to 20 metres in size. They irrigate the patches by transporting water in small tankers, the quantity is only enough to irrigate the designated patches.
With no water to irrigate and insufficient snow to replenish the farmland, the villagers have sourced temporary menial labour in factories in nearby towns in Guzara and Herat city to meet their daily rations. Unfortunately, these jobs are insecure as they only provide employment for between a week to a month at a time. So with no contract to secure a period of employment, being laid off at short notice is common practice. A month’s labour would only earn a villager £20 which is insufficient to support a family for more than a few days or a couple of weeks.
Water Irrigation Needed
Afghan Poverty Relief’s assessment showed all the villages earmarked for relief projects have successfully produced the same range of vegetables and fruits prior to the drought. As the drought continues the farmland has increasingly become parched and arid. A lack of water supply has forced farmers to cultivate crops on a tiny patch of their multi acre land, to generate a very modest income for their families. But in many cases this income remains inadequate to feed, clothe and education their children.
The farmers certainly do not possess the budget to develop an irrigation system for the vast acres of land that has remained barren and uncultivated during this lengthy drought. The little water they do have is used to cultivate the tiny patches to produces crops of average quality (at best) and only in small quantities.
Below are list of crops successfully grown in the villages in Guzara: Wheat, Oats, Bran, Cotton, Saffron, Beans, Chick Peas, Lentils, Rapeseed, Okra, Tomatoes, Potatoes, Onions, Mulberries, Grapes andApples
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