WFP Logistics - Afghanistan

WFP started operations in Afghanistan in 1964. It is a war ravaged country, with an economy and infrastructure largely destroyed by conflict. Despite progress over the past three years, after nearly 30 years of conflict, poverty, food insecurity, chronic malnutrition and stunting remain widespread. Health indicators are among the worst in the world; many school-aged children do not attend school, especially girls. Natural disasters remain a constant challenge with drought, floods, snow and earthquakes further increasing vulnerabilities of millions of Afghans.

The current Protracted Relief and Recovery Operation (PRRO) began on 1 January 2006 and is expected to continue for a period of four years with a requirement of 1,010,261 metric tons (MT) of various commodities. The PRRO is in line with the priorities of the government as indicated in the Afghan National Development Strategy and the United Nations Development Assistance Framework. It will enhance food security and improve human and productive capital in food-insecure and remote areas, including during and after natural disasters, with emphasis on vulnerable women and children. It aims to support nearly 3.5 million Afghans per year in food-insecure areas largely through Food for Work (FFW), Food for Training (FFT) and Food for Education (FFE) programs.

The second Joint Appeal was implemented from July 2008 to July 2009 with a planned delivery of approximately 227,000 MT of food through relief and early recovery food assistance programmes. This will be achieved through the provision of 116,000 MT of assorted food commodities under the price mitigation component in urban and rural areas, 82,000 MT under the drought response component in rural areas, and 29,000 MT of food under the supplementary feeding programme supported by the Ministry of Primary Health (MoPH) and UNICEF.

In Afghanistan, the winter is harsh and many communities are completely dependent on food donations. Roads are inaccessible during winter due landslides, snow and floods. Every year WFP pre-positions food in areas which are affected by the weather to ensure food distributions to beneficiaries can continue. In 2008, WFP delivered over 34,000MT of mixed commodities to these areas.

In terms of Logistics, ships with food internationally resourced arrive at Karachi port in Pakistan and Bandar Abbas in Iran. Most of the food is trucked directly from vessels out of Karachi to forward Logistics bases at Peshawar, Quetta and out of Bandar'abbas to Herat (Afghanistan) and Termez (Uzbekistan) close to the Afghan border. Recently, the new Wagha corridor was established. This corridor is located in the border between Pakistan and India, and is utilized for biscuit import from India. In 2008 over 262,000MT of food commodities arrived in Afghanistan, 247,693 MT (94.16%) via Pakistan corridors, 3,282MT (1.25%) via Uzbekistan, 11,319MT (4.3%) via Turkmenistan and 768 MT (0.29%) via Iran.

Due to insecurity in the Hirat Area office, WFP Afghanistan imported over 11,000 MT of Ukrainian wheat via the Torghandi corridor to distribute in the most critical and drought-affected areas of southern region. The Tajikistan land corridor was also used to deliver food to the Badakshan Province in northern Afghanistan. This corridor was found to be both cost-effective and faster, thanks to better road conditions in Tajikistan.

Both commercial trucks and the WFP fleet are used to move food commodities. Usually the fleet of 135 trucks is used for tertiary transport, where commercial trucks are either very expensive or unavailable. The fleet is also deployed where transporters collude to fix high prices.

Insecurity is a major and growing challenge in Afghanistan. As a result, transporters decline to provide services and the WFP fleet cannot go to areas declared insecure by the UN Department of Safety and
Security (UNDSS). In some cases WFP uses privately contracted security escorts to transport food to certain areas. Critical deliveries are made by using either commercial or WFP trucks that are escorted, depending on the assessment of UNDSS. Still some escorted WFP food trucks were attacked and burned by anti-government elements especially in the southern region of the Kandahar and Farah Provinces. During 2008, the post-delivery losses were 1,244 MT, mostly due to attacks on convoys.

WFP has also planned to open new route for delivery to Hirat; from Quetta via Taftan (Iran corridor). Recently, India completed and handed over the Zaranj and Dilaram highway road project. This road shortens the distance from the Iranian corridor. Also, the Chah-Bahar port will be assessed and utilized for shipments to the west and northern parts of region, if viable.