JALALABAD: Olives tumble with a gentle “plop” onto a tarpaulin in eastern Afghanistan, an unusual, drought-resistant harvest offering hope to farmers who have struggled as climate change worsens water shortages.
Drought and water scarcity affect more than half of the country’s population, according to the United Nations, pushing some farmers to seek alternatives to maize, rice or wheat.
Abdullah Orzala’s olive grove, first planted 15 years ago on his family’s land in Saidan Arabi village, in eastern Nangarhar province, is one such success story.
“I said to myself, “let’s try something,” because the important thing for me in agriculture is that we have to think about water resources and how to adapt to climate change,” he said.
