Prolonged drought deepens Afghanistan's humanitarian crisis

An Afghan girl stands with an empty water container in Bamiyan, Afghanistan, March 2, 2023. REUTERS/Ali Khara

NAHR-E-SHAHI, Afghanistan (Reuters) - In parched brown hills in north Afghanistan, Abdul Hahad tears stalks of wheat out of the arid earth. In the third year of water shortages and high temperatures, his harvest is barely enough to support his family.

The 55-year-old farmer from Nahr-e-Shahi district in Balkh province used to plant two or even three wheat crops a year but in the last three years he has only been able to grow one. The yields from his nine acres of land are dwindling year by year.