The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN said it will provide assistance to 9 million people by the end of 2022.

In a video released on the FAO Afghanistan’s Twitter page, the FAO Country Director for Afghanistan, Dick Trenchard, said that the organization had already reached to 2.7 million people this year.

Trenchard voiced concerns about the impact of successive droughts and the Afghan economic crisis on livelihoods and livestock in the country.

“This year, we have already reached to more than 2.7 million people across the country. By the end of the year we will have reached more than 9 million, recognizing that the next few weeks, the next few months is the peak time of the agriculture cycle and that’s when we and our NGO partners have to make sure that every single humanitarian package, every single bag of wheat seeds, fertilizers vegetable seeds and tools reach the people that most needed it,” he said.

Meanwhile, the farmers said that due to lack of fertilizer and reform seeds, their harvest has been affected.

“If we fertilize our harvest, it grows well and produces good crops. We call on the government to pay attention to this issue,” said a farmer.

“We have put four bags of fertilizer onto our crops and the crops were good but this year, I put two bags on and the crops are down to only 35 sacks,” said a farmer.

This comes as the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock said that the farmers have been severely affected by the recent flash floods that hit several provinces across the country.

“As the agriculture lands are affected, the gardens are affected, the fruits are affected, the livestock is affected, the ministry has a plan for it. We will do a survey first and then will take actions based on our capacity and we will also share the figures with the aid organizations,” said Musbahuddin Mustaeen, a spokesman for the ministry.

Earlier, the USAID announced a package of $80 million to the FAO Afghanistan to help the Afghan farmers with essential needs.