Badghis, a safe place to live

The province of Badghis in Afghanistan is surrounded by tall, colourful mountains, which change according to the season. In spring the mountains are dressed in garments of green, covered in the newly grown wheat of planting season. In summer, the sheaves of wheat turn to brown, lending the province a different look.

As long as eyes have seen, the mountains have been covered by wheat, which dances to the tune of the winds. In winter, the frosty white of the mountains remind farmers to prepare for their next season of cultivation.

Beneath the visions of the seasons lies another story. “The nature you are seeing here isn’t always at peace with the villagers, especially in spring and summer,” says Mamlaket, 45, a woman whose wrinkles suggest a life as rugged as the mountainous terrain. “Every year we are dealing with floods and fires.”

Mamlaket lives in the village of Sanga Zard, in a remote area of Badghis province difficult to reach due to the meandering and at times impassable roads.

The village is especially vulnerable – disaster prone and short on financial resources. A neighbouring river, the towering mountains, and only a few trees leave the village susceptible to landslides, mudflows and floods.

Almost all of the houses in Sanga Zard are made of mud, some of them constructed directly beneath mountain faces which is an especially dangerous place to locate a home. The mud construction is out of necessity as Mamlaket and her fellow villagers lack the income to build from cement and concrete blocks.

Life isn’t easy in the village. People survive by raising livestock and farming; agriculture is the dominant form of livelihood in Badghis. Mamlaket’s husband is a wheat farmer. “His income is just enough [for us] to survive,” she says.

When water becomes a threat

In a flood two years ago, Mamlaket’s husband lost 14 goats and four donkeys. The flood also destroyed their land on which they cultivated wheat. “Oh, it was very difficult,” she says, shaking her head. “We didn’t have any yield at all that year. We had to borrow money from our relatives to buy food for the children. Most of the villagers were affected by the flood too, not only us.”

The village lacks protection walls which means that flood waters pour down from the surrounding mountains and can threaten the lives of the villagers, their houses, roads, water infrastructure, animals and farmland. As the majority of families living in this region are farmers or pastoralists, these disasters pose a significant threat to their lives and to their livelihoods.

On April 24, 2014 flash floods triggered by heavy rains destroyed a number of homes and swept away livestock and household items in Badghis province. In total nine people died. 41 homes were destroyed and 77 others seriously damaged. Additionally, 40 hectare [200 jirib] of agricultural land was seriously affected. 25 wells and 30 kilometres of irrigation systems were rendered useless. Overall, 500 families (3500 individuals) were seriously affected by the floods.

Due to a lack of awareness and information, says Mamlaket, “we didn’t know how to get out of harm’s way or to take protective measures.”

High heat challenges farmers

The high temperature in summer poses challenges for the farmers of Sanga Zard. The sun bleaches vegetation and can lead to wildfires that affect cash crops, houses, animals, and people.

“Each year we are certain to have a wildfire,” says Hashim, 42, the owner of a pistachio farm. “It is because of high temperatures and drought. Wheat and pistachio trees are very dry and fire-prone crops in the summer months, so they easily catch fire.”

Hashim says that when a fire ignites on a piece of land, the owner and his family are usually the people charged with the task of controlling it. “If we were free we would help each other, otherwise [we are alone],” he says. “We didn’t even inform the government.”

Thirsty lands

Drought is another challenge that people in this province struggle to address. Agriculture here is mostly rain-fed. In spring the farmers look to the sky in hope for rain clouds. If there is not sufficient rain, affected families can expect to endure a period they call ‘hungry month’. In a rapid assessment conducted by World Vision in 2014 during a drought, 70 per cent of farmers reported a 58 per cent crop failure.

“We are farmers, our eyes always on the sky and the ground. If there is no rain, there is no yield, so there is no food for the family,” says Hashim. “Before, we used to predict the drought traditionally. If we had a dry winter or spring we would prepare for drought. Now, we are able to withstand, prevent or mitigate the effects of droughts.”

Badghis Sustainable Livelihoods (BSL)

In order to increase disaster resilience for the people of Badghis, World Vision Afghanistan (WVA), with funding from the Government of Australia, partnered with the Department of Rural  Rehabilitation and Development ( DRRD ), the Department of Agriculture, Irrigation, and Livestock (DAIL), village shuras, and Community Development Committees (CDCs) to initiate the “Badghis Sustainable Livelihood” project. The idea was not only to save villagers’ lives but also to protect their properties from the effects of extreme events.

The BSL team established community Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) committees, each comprised of 10 women and 10 men. They helped the DRR members develop a preparedness plan and guided them in how to respond to disasters in a systematic manner. The trainings focused on taking the appropriate actions in the case of a sudden disaster.

Both Mamlaket and Hashim were selected as members of the committee. A village elder suggested that Mamlaket join. “First I was afraid to accept it. I was an illiterate woman and had never participated in such work.” She smiles. “With my husband’s encouragement I decided to become a member of the committee.”

Each member has a role in the DRR committee such as disaster announcer, first aid provider, shelter provider and warning and rescue team. Mamlaket was selected as a first aid provider and Hashim took on the role of disaster announcer.

Committee members were then trained based on their selected roles. Mamlaket participated in a two-day first aid training where she was taught to provide basic life skills during disasters. Hashem was trained on how to identify disasters. He frequently checks the weather forecast through his friends who have internet. He also communicates with Badghis National Disaster Management Department and receives updates with forecasts.  

Hashim says that if he learns of the possibility of a flood, he will announce the news through the mosque’s loudspeaker, which notifies each member to prepare for their assigned task. “Every member knows her or his responsibilities and they are committed to what they should do. Before, there was no such  coordination among the villagers. Now, we know what, when and where we should go,” he says.

With her new knowledge and the supplies in the first aid kit Mamlaket is able to provide the basics of first aid, which is particularly important for the villagers whose nearest clinic is three hours by donkey.

Mamlaket is proud of her newfound expertise and always keeps her kit handy. “When I need it, I immediately use it,” she says. “Last week I used it to bandage a boy’s head. Blood was coming from his head rapidly, but through what I had learned from the training I bandaged [him up]; after a while the bleeding stopped. If I didn’t have the knowledge or the equipment his family would have had to walk a long distance to take him to a clinic.” By the time they got there it might have been too late.

Using the community participation approach, the team has been teaching the DRR committee members how to develop proposals to get funding for implementation of disaster risk reduction plans. To develop these plans, communities were guided through a process which helped them assess the community risks and vulnerabilities and address them to their respective government institutions, including Afghanistan National Disaster Management Association, Department of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock and the Department of Rural and Rehabilitation Development.

“Before, we didn’t know who to go to when we had problems with agriculture, fires or flooding. But now the members all have a way to communicate with the relevant government departments,” says Hashim.

Much more still needs to be done to make Badghis a safe and secure place to live, such as a bridge over a river that the village’s children are unable to cross in bad weather to attend school. But Mamlaket is grateful for the changes. “I really appreciate what World Vision has done for us. They have done such a great job – more than our government has ever done.”