Britain has announced £10m of emergency food aid to Afghans facing starvation as a result of the country’s worst drought in decades.
An estimated 1.4 million are at risk after reduced snow and rainfall have seen agriculture collapse in parts of the country, raising fears of a massive displacement of people.
Tens of thousands are being driven from their rural homes to cities and others are heading abroad.
Penny Mordaunt, International Development Secretary, said: “The drought in Afghanistan is an unfolding crisis, with 1.4 million people’s lives at risk when this year’s harvest fails in only a matter of weeks.
“The UK continues to stand by the government of Afghanistan and we have taken decisive action to step in early before the worst of the drought strikes to help prevent needless pain and suffering.”
Officials said the aid package would help feed 441,000 people as part of a World Food Programme campaign.
Rainfall is down by as much as 70 per cent this year in a drought blamed on the La Nina Pacific weather system. Previous dry years mean the water table is low and wells have run dry. The drought has struck 20 provinces, with the worst affected in the north and west.
More than 50,000 have already been driven off the land to the city of Herat.
Families fleeing the drought last week told the Telegraph the crisis was likely to drive more Afghans abroad to seek a better life.
The drought comes on top of worsening violence in the country’s long-running conflict and a struggling economy.
Large numbers of livestock have died and families have little to eat, while the harvest is expected to fail totally in weeks.
One farmer called Ghulam told the Telegraph he was facing catastrophe and would consider joining a militant group if it meant his son would not starve.
“ I can assure you that some nights, none of these families have even bread to eat, and they go to sleep hungry. If we don’t get help here, we will be forced to go to Iran or Pakistan.
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