Badghis herdsmen seek help after losing animals to cold

BADGHIS (Pajhwok): Cattle farmers in western Badghis province say extreme cold has killed some of their animals and if not assisted immediately by the government, they may suffer more losses.

The unprecedented cold has created many problems for herdsmen in the province and has killed some of their cattle.

Abdullah, 50, a herdsman in Kharikhana area of Qadis district, said he was associated with cattle farming for the last 35 years and he owned over a hundred sheep flock.

“The recent cold wave has killed my 12 sheep, if this situation is not paid attention, we may lose all of our animals”, he feared.

Mohammad Omar, 40, another herdsman who owns 90 sheep, said he lost eight sheep to severe cold in recent few days. “I am afraid the remaining sheep will also die”, he said.

“Nobody has helped us, we are not paid any attention,” he bemoaned.

These herdsmen asked the government to help them in preventing more losses of their animals.

Agriculture and Livestock Department officials, however, have no exact figures for recent animal mortality in the province, they admit some animals have been lost to extreme cold.

Muhsin Ihsan, acting agriculture and livestock department head, told Pajhwok Afghan News they were unable to collect statistics about animals’ losses because roads to remote districts remained blocked by snow.

Ihsan assured his department will provide assistance to affected farmers and they had also shared the issue with officials in Kabul and some welfare organizations.

Badghis has been in grip of a severe cold wave over the past few days and the temperature has plummeted to minus 25°C.

aw/ma

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