Meat Consumption Has Less Effect on Climate Change in Afghanistan

By: Humayoon Babur

Oct.10, 2018

Agriculture and particularly animal husbandry plays a crucial role in terms of job employment in a rural area and essentially, it is like a dynamic momentum that boosts the economic growth of war-torn Afghanistan.

Decades ago, Afghanistan had millions of livestock, the era of war and unrest nearly destroyed half of the livestock populations and rare species of the animal became extinct, animal Agriculture is one of the feeder’s channels almost for around 36 million people. Their household income directly or indirectly depends on agriculture.

It seems, drastically, Afghanistan’s animal agriculture is suffering causes of climate change, significantly the drought and even progressive turmoil, political disability. Plenty of food Afghans use is insecure, recently, in the west and central Afghanistan extreme drought hit both inhabitants and livestock.

Globally, animal agriculture is responsible for approx. 13-18% of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions, however, in Afghanistan’s case, the effects of meat consumption are not the cause affecting environment and climate.

Obviously, neighbors of Afghanistan for e.g. China, Iran and Pakistan due to industrial involvement has contributed to climate change and definitely defects Afghanistan’s spatial enclave and climate.

Tawheed Ali Azeemi, Livestock Service Director at Afghanistan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL) could not believe that the meat consumption will touch climate change, unless, mostly Afghanistan’s suffering neighboring countries anthropogenic functions which add to climate change and greenhouse gases.

“Livestock population has increasingly dwindled, which affected the food security of millions of Afghans, that’s why unable, to add on climate change,” Azeemi says “No concern about climate change at the moment, livestock has no link with it.”

Whether or not accept that every agriculture activity, particularly, livestock production augment the amount of greenhouse-gas emissions, it is contributing to climate change and its outbreak health consequences include a threat to the food quality, supply, and productivity.

Meanwhile, the government of Afghanistan by supporting international donors such as Asian Development Bank has restored and modernized slaughters houses which decline traditionally butcher’s slaughtering animals in streets or in backyards due to the destruction of abattoirs during last 40 years bitterness, political fragmentation, and war. In this way, to reduce product losses, upgrading product efficiency will add to agriculture development in many major Afghan cities and importantly in rural areas.

Climate Change has become as a fact, if we neglect to respond immediately, the negative consequences will increase which menace humankind universally.

Recently, in Incheon city, in Republic of Korea, the world’s climate change scientists have warned that the climate change needs on policymaker’s level immediate stands; otherwise, it will significantly worsen the risks of floods, extreme heat, forest wildfires, drought; and environmental migration and poverty for hundreds of millions of people around the world.