Excerpt: KABUL, 6 November 2008 (IRINnews.org) - Hundreds of thousands of livestock could be lost in Afghanistan in the next six months unless aid agencies urgently provide animal feed, vaccines and water, the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation (MAIL) has warned.

Over 1.5 million animals (cattle, sheep and goats) - an estimated 10 percent of the country’s livestock - have died over the past two years due to cold weather, diseases and lack of fodder and water, according to aid agencies.

“We fear more animals will perish this winter because drought has further exacerbated the situation [with regard to animal feed],” Azizullah Usmani, head of MAIL’s animal husbandry department, told IRIN.

Large parts of the country have been hit by drought, which has not only affected agriculture but dried up pastures, leaving livestock nothing to eat.

Preventing animal deaths by providing fodder, vaccinations and wells in rural areas is considered crucial for about 495,000 herder households who rely on livestock as their primary source of food and income, according to the Afghan government and aid agencies.

The loss of animals could be catastrophic for many livestock-dependent households, experts warn.

“We will starve to death if we lose our animals,” said Joma Khan, a herder in Faryab Province, northern Afghanistan.

Click here to read the full article published electronically via IRIN, where you can also listen to audio files of the report in Dari and Pashto, read the emergency appeal released by the Afghan government and aid agencies, and view the briefing paper.

Click here to learn more about GL-CRSP efforts within the Afghan Livestock Sector via a partnership with the Afghan Peace Project.