VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBUL #5928/01 3570700
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 230700Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5032
INFO RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/OSD WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUEHVL/AMEMBASSY VILNIUS 0039
RUEHRK/AMEMBASSY REYKJAVIK 0007
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 3454

UNCLAS KABUL 005928 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/FO (DAS GASTRIGHT), SCA/A 
STATEPASS TO USAID FOR AID/ANE, AID/CDHA/DG 
NSC FOR HARRIMAN 
OSD FOR KIMMITT 
CENTCOM FOR CG CFC-A, CG CJTF-76, POLAD 
REL NATO/ISAF 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL AF
SUBJECT: PRT/CHAGHCHARAN: FOOD SHORTAGE IN WESTERN 
AFGHANISTAN 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY:  (U) World Food Program (WFP) and Afghan 
government officials alike recognize the current 
vulnerability to food shortages faced particularly ) though 
not exclusively ) by Afghanistan's western provinces.  The 
onset of winter is now exacerbating the effects of the 
lengthy drought.  Badghis and Ghor provinces appear to be the 
worst off, with Ghor facing the potential of months-long 
isolation because of blocked mountain passes.  WFP is 
speeding food aid to the area and is optimistic that it can 
meet its targets for sufficient food assistance to the 
western provinces.  WFP says the real challenge is in the 
February-April time frame, when local food stocks are likely 
to run low.  This underscores the need for a more robust 
response to WFP's extended drought appeal.  END SUMMARY 
 
Epicenter of the Food Shortage 
 
¶2.  (U) WFP officials in Kabul and Deputy Minister for Rural 
Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD) Rahimi have confirmed 
what embassy PRT officers have been reporting:  the four 
western provinces of Herat, Badghis, Ghor and Farah are 
increasingly vulnerable to food shortages.  The long drought, 
which one can only hope might now be easing, has exacerbated 
these provinces, chronic food insecurity.  Badghis and Ghor, 
the latter seen by many as the epicenter of the food 
shortage, face an especially serious situation, given the 
difficulty of getting food into the two provinces during the 
winter.  At a meeting with Poloff and U.S. PRT rep, Ghor 
province's six members of the National Assembly,s Wolesi 
Jirga (Lower House) claimed some Ghor residents were 
preparing to leave in the face of the potential food shortage. 
World Food Program to the Rescue 
¶3.  (U) For its part, WFP officials in Kabul are optimistic 
about dealing with the major food needs in these vulnerable 
areas at least until spring, when the snow melts and the 
passes reopen.  This upbeat view, however, presupposes there 
are no further delays caused by security issues or customs 
officials stopping trucks for &technical8 reasons, as 
happened recently at the border post of Torkam between 
Peshawar and Jalalabad.  Resolving that incident required 
direct intervention by MRRD with the Ministry of Finance. 
¶4.  (U) WFP is giving high priority to Ghor and Badghis.  WFP 
reports it has already delivered approximately 4,000 mts to 
the two provinces, and another 3,000 mts is reportedly 
arriving at a forward support base in Herat and will be moved 
on immediately to Ghor and Badghis.  Another 7,500 mts is 
also planned for delivery to the two provinces. These 
deliveries will help carry them through to the end of this 
year.  Additionally, the Spanish PRT in Badghis Province has 
made a cash contribution intended to support a further 650 
mts in WFP deliveries.  In total, about 15,000 mts have made 
or are making their way to the two provinces.  Included in 
that total is about USD 50,000 in WFP distributed food for 
Ghor being provided as part of a Lithuanian-financed 
food-for-work school construction project launched in October. 
¶5.   (U) WFP says it has the logistical resources to move 500 
mts per day into Ghor and Badghis and is committed to 
continuing to do so until snow prevents access.  WFP also 
reports it has reached an informal understanding with the 
ISAF/Herat forward base for the airlifting of food to Ghor 
and Badghis, though only in the range of 50)100 mts, and 
only if a true emergency develops. 
Kabul Reacts 
¶6.  (U) The central government understands the area's 
vulnerability and is making an effort to respond.  Naseer 
Popal, emergency response advisor to MRRD Minister Zia, 
visited Ghor,s capital of Chaghcharan to assess the 
situation. He indicated to PRT reps on 11/18 that he has 
arranged for five additional vehicles to be made available to 
MRRD's team in Ghor and five more supervisors have been 
allocated to monitor and facilitate food distribution, 
permitting one for each of Ghor,s 10 districts.  He is also 
looking for assistance to help keep five mountain passes open 
in the direction of Herat. According to Popal,s figures, in 
addition to 2,000 mts of WFP provided food already 
distributed via the Ministry of Education through local 
 
 
 
schools, another 1,000 mts of WFP food was provided to Ghor 
over the last several weeks, and another 4,000 mts is in the 
pipeline for delivery before the end of December.  World 
Vision's representative in Chaghcharan has confirmed the NGO 
will accede to MRRD's request to make one of its local 
warehouses available as a transit point for the food. 
Bottom Line: Suffereing Contained? 
¶7.  (U) WFP maintains that even in the most vulnerable 
provinces, there is no evidence of impending starvation or 
famine.  This is not to say that human suffering and some 
degree of deprivation are not taking and will not continue to 
take place, particularly in remote areas.  For his part, 
World Vision's representative in Chaghcharan discounts claims 
that up to 90 percent of the province's population will be 
affected.  He &guesstimates8 the real figure is closer to 
65 percent.  He too discounts the likelihood of mass 
starvation, noting Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) 
and other projections based on extrapolations from this 
year's food production.  He points as well to the remarkable 
toughness of the Afghan population and predicts that, with 
reasonable levels of assistance, most will muddle through. 
At this stage WFP officials see the biggest danger in the 
February-April period. 
¶8.  (U) To the extent that WFP shifts food assistance from 
areas of chronic food insecurity to areas hardest hit by the 
drought, this tends to stretch the capacity of their overall 
food assistance program throughout the country. Thus, WFP 
underscores the need for a greater response to the drought 
appeal. The USG has heard that appeal and already provided 
considerable food assistance to Afghanistan (through WFP) 
both as a response to chronic food insecurity (about USD 50 
million in FY6) and to the drought appeal itself (about USD 
18 million since July 2006). To date, responses to the 
drought appeal and its October extension request, however, 
have been quite limited from other donor countries. 
NORLAND 
NORLAND