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Aidan O'Leary, head of the U.N. office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said repeated droughts in northern Afghanistan suggest that economic development is needed in addition to drought relief. "What you're dealing with here is basically trying to maintain a rural, agrarian lifestyle in a climate that might not be conducive," O'Leary said. "What's the solution? Are you looking at better seeds? ... Are you looking at alternative crops? Are you looking at alternative livelihoods?" With the international focus on pulling troops from Afghanistan, it's difficult to get nations sending development aid to discuss long-term solutions that would end the need for drought relief in the north every couple of years, he said. Compounding the problem is that while international aid has been flowing into Afghanistan for years, only a fraction has been targeted to reducing poverty, he said. O'Leary noted a World Bank report this month that said the expected decline in international aid will have only a modest impact on the poor. The report said the majority of aid was spent to improve security and governance mostly in more urban areas where there is less poverty. Ironically, it rained both days last week that O'Leary traveled to the north to check on drought aid with Michael Keating, deputy special representative of the U.N. secretary-general for Afghanistan with responsibility for relief, recovery and reconstruction. The first day it sprinkled. The second day it poured. Muddy water filled deep ruts in unpaved roads in Dawlat Abad district. Keating and O'Leary tried to visit a nearby village, but one of the heavily armored U.N. vehicles in their convoy got stuck. They left the vehicle, turned around and drove on better roads to their next stop: a medical center where children are being treated for acute malnutrition. The number of cases of malnutrition treated at the clinic increased threefold after the drought, said Dr. Said Mahmood Shah, nutrition coordinator for Save the Children. In the summer months, up to 90 malnourished children showed up at the center where a tiny office was crowded with cardboard boxes of eeZee Paste Nut, a peanut butter-like food with high energy, proteins and nutrients. Now, rain, snow and poor roads have prevented some children from getting help, Shah said. "There are lots of cases, but they can't get here," he said. The last stop was a meeting with villagers, including women who had received seeds and tools as part of a backyard garden project run by ActionAid, a British aid group. One of the women, Jan Bibi, said that because of the drought, she and 10 other members of her family eat only once a day. Bibi, who is in her 70s with no land or home of her own, said she had not eaten meat for six to eight weeks. "We are sticking to one meal a day," Bibi said, holding up a forefinger. "This year, it's really, really bad."
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