Water Sharing Tensions Between Iran and Afghanistan Still High as Droughts Ease

Jun 24, 2020 | Phoebe Sleet
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Both Iran and Afghanistan have suffered from prolonged droughts over the last several years. In Afghanistan, the worst drought in decades directly affected two-thirds of the country in 2018-19. Around ten million Afghans were severely impacted by the drought and at least 300,000 were displaced as a result. Afghanistan’s water scarcity situation is driven by a mixture of human and environmental factors. While climate change and other climate-related hazards have intensified water scarcity, human interventions have been a key driver. Unsustainable agricultural and livestock-rearing practices, budgetary deficits, years of conflict and a lack of drought management institutions have all played a role.