Mechanism to deal with droughts being evolved

KABUL (Pajhwok): With drought gripping at least 160 districts in the country, the government is working on a mechanism to reach out to the hardest-hit areas with relief activities, said the president’s special representative on good governance and reforms on Tuesday.

Addressing a gathering of representatives of foreign NGOs in Kabul, Ahmad Zia Massoud said insufficient rains and snowfalls this year could threaten crops in many areas.

He said Afghanistan was an agricultural land and if the droughts prolonged, more than 85 percent of the country’s population would be affected.

Massoud said the government was working jointly with foreign NGOs on a mechanism how to deliver quick relief to farmers in the hardest-hit areas.

The World Food Programme (WFP) says more than 30 percent of Afghans live below the poverty line.

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