On the verge of the wheat harvest within the country, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) ordered customs to prevent the export of wheat to meet people’s needs inside the country.

Officials at the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL) said that Afghanistan is facing a wheat shortage, especially as the country is experiencing drought.

Based on the statistics by MAIL, Afghanistan has been short between 1.5 and 3 million tons of wheat to feed the population in recent years and smuggling it abroad causes more challenges.

“A number of people are taking wheat out to Iran and Pakistan, so we ordered related officials at the customs to not allow this,” said Hedayatullah Badri, acting minister of finance.

“The Ministries of Finance and Agriculture jointly ordered all borders to ban exports and prevent them,” said Mesbahuddin Mostaeen, spokesperson for MAIL.

Meanwhile, the Chamber of Craftsmen says that wheat and flour are smuggled from Afghanistan to neighboring countries such as Iran and Pakistan.

“Some are smuggling flour to Iran and Pakistan which negatively affects the price of wheat and flour in the country,” said Norulhaq Omari, the head of the Chamber of Craftsmen.

A former official at the Ministry of Commerce and Industries said that the Russian-Ukraine conflict has caused many countries to face grain deficits, especially wheat.

The Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Investment ACCI said that Afghanistan was importing flour and wheat mostly from Kazakhstan and Russian.