Fund squeeze threatens UN agricultural campaign in Afghanistan

ISLAMABAD, Jan 28 (AFP) - United Nations agencies handling a livestock and crop development campaign in war-battered Afghanistan warned Friday their programme faced clsoure because of a serious funding problem.

The international community must come up with urgent assistance before the funds completely run out by June, they said.

The agricultural assistance programme, which costs 10 million dollars annually, was revamped in 1995 by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Donors met the budget last year, but fresh disbursements are awaited to sustain their activities.

UNDP deputy resident for Afghanistan, Knut Ostby, said there were "positive" signals for aid including five million dollars from the European Union, half a million from Sweden and 250,000 dollars from Swiss government.

"But money is running out and if disbursements do not come in time we may have to pack up and go home," said Hans Brink, FAO programme manager for crops.

If the programme is continued for another five years "we could make an enormous impact on the food security situation in Afghanistan, which would also impact on the food supply situation in Pakistan," Brink said.

"Now we are being starved of funds and may shortly be unable to continue operations," he said.

"The donor community has a choice, to continue with the annual handouts for humanitarian reasons or put sufficient funding into assisting and enabling the Afghans to help themselves," Brink added.

FAO's programme manager for livestock, Terence Barker, said the programme had been "highly successful" in containing livestock diseases, leading to a significant increase in production of cattle, sheeep and goats.

He said livestock diseases like Rinderpest were endemic in Afghanistan and a suspension of the ongoing programme would also have serious implications for neighbouring countries because of cross-border disease spillover.

With FAO help some 10,000 tonnes of improved seed have been produced annually in Afghanistan, including 6,000 tonnes of wheat seed which can yield more than 100,000 tonnes of wheat per year valued at 20 million dollars.

FAO also sponsors the commercial production of fruit and nut saplings in 200 nurseries in 20 provinces.