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Afghanistan’s communities on the frontline of repeated climate shocks

On 29 December, severe floods struck Farah province in western Afghanistan for the second time in 2025, affecting nearly 1,000 highly vulnerable people with little capacity to cope or recover.

On the evening of 29 December 2025, heavy rainfall triggered destructive floods across Farah province in western Afghanistan. Nearly 1,000 individuals have been impacted by the floods, most of whom were already extremely vulnerable and who have very limited capacity to cope or recover.

Afghanistan is among the most climate-vulnerable in the world, with repeated droughts, floods and extreme heat effecting communities that have little capacity to cope or recover. Over half the population relied on aid in 2025, and millions depend on rain-fed farming and fragile livelihoods, meaning climate shocks translate almost immediately into food shortages, displacement and loss of life. With weak infrastructure and limited safety nets, even short-term weather events can have devastating consequences.

In Bakwa district, Abdul, a 44-year-old father of a family of ten, described how the floods compounded years of hardship linked to drought and earlier climate shocks.

“Bakwa is already affected by drought. The flood severely affected our community by destroying houses, farmlands, and deep-water wells that people had constructed with great difficulty and hardship.Our water wells are drilled to a depth of at least 120 metres, yet the flood destroyed many of these wells as well as our wheat farmlands.”

His own family lost almost everything. Their house was damaged, their farmland washed away, and their deep-water well destroyed. “Our farmland, which is our main source of livelihood, was destroyed,” he explained. “The flood also damaged our deep-water well, which is our primary source of drinking and irrigation water.”

Although no one was injured, the economic impact has been severe.“We lost what we were living on. Right now, we are struggling to manage daily life and cannot recover on our own.”

These floods came less than a year after severe flooding in Farah in February 2025, which killed more than 20 people and affected thousands. For this family, recovery from that earlier disaster was still incomplete. “In February, 20 solar panels we were using to pump water were broken and stopped working. Since then, we have had serious problems accessing water.”

Repeated climate shocks are pushing already vulnerable communities deeper into crisis. Afghanistan sits at the intersection of the world’s most acute humanitarian, protection, economic and climate crises, with mass border returns, escalating food insecurity, climate-driven drought and repeated natural disasters intensifying the long-term impacts of war and economic vulnerability.

For recovery, the needs are clear. “Our community needs help to rebuild damaged houses and repair the water wells destroyed by the flood,” he said. “We also need solar systems to pump water again. Without these, it is very hard for our community to recover and continue daily life.”

The Farah floods are not an isolated incident. They form part of a wider pattern of escalating climate impacts across Afghanistan, where communities are already highly vulnerable and heavily reliant on humanitarian assistance. Recurrent floods, droughts, and extreme weather events are steadily eroding the limited coping capacity of households, undermining livelihoods, shelter, food security, and access to basic services.

Climate shocks in Afghanistan

Afghanistan is entering its sixth consecutive year of drought, with groundwater levels nationwide in the lowest 30 per cent of historical records and in many areas in the bottom 5 per cent.

In 2025 alone, drought affected around 3.4 million people undermining food production, livestock survival and rural livelihoods. At the same time, Afghanistan has suffered four major earthquakes of magnitude 6 or above in the past four years, including the devastating Kunar earthquake in August 2025.

Floods, flash floods, landslides and avalanches remain a constant threat, repeatedly destroying homes and markets, displacing communities and damaging transport, irrigation and basic services. Climate change, deforestation and unplanned urban expansion are intensifying both the frequency and severity of these hazards.

In 2026, Afghanistan will remain one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises with a projected 45% of the population anticipated to require humanitarian assistance.

Without urgent, timely humanitarian support and sustained investment in long-term resilience and recovery, these repeated disasters will continue to force displacement, exacerbate hunger, increase the risk of malnutrition, and result in preventable illness and loss of life.

The Danish Refugee Council is a first responder to natural disasters in the areas of operation throughout Afghanistan. We deliver rapid, life-saving assistance and support early recovery in disaster-affected communities, including emergency shelter, household items, cash assistance and protection services, as well as support to people displaced by floods, droughts and earthquakes.

We also clear debris using our mine action excavators and deploy ambulances to transport injured people to hospitals. In parallel, we deliver emergency explosive ordnance risk education, as floods, landslides and other climate shocks can shift explosive ordnance and create new, hidden risks for affected communities.

In addition, DRC also works on disaster preparedness and resilience, supporting communities to reduce risk, restore livelihoods and cope with repeated climate shocks in an already fragile context.