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NewSecurityBeat

The blog of the Wilson Center's Environmental Change and Security Program
  • Guest Contributor

    To Build Peace, Confront Afghanistan’s Natural Resource Paradox

    September 16, 2013 By Shamim Niazi
    UNEP_Afghanistan_NRM_guidan

    There’s a popular saying in Afghanistan reflecting the value of water: “Let Kabul be without gold, but not without snow.”

    Living in a refugee camp across the border in Pakistan during the Soviet occupation, my father, who worked as a doctor in Samangan, Bamyan, Kunar, and Balkh provinces, used to tell me about the importance of our country’s natural wealth. He was optimistic that it was Afghanistan’s land, water, forests, and minerals that would help the country re-emerge as a strong nation. However, he also knew that the mismanagement of our natural resources is partly to blame for the instability, insecurity, and vulnerability that have gripped our country for so many years. This is the paradox of the natural resource wealth in Afghanistan.

    “Let Kabul be without gold, but not without snow.”

    In June 2013, during my Masters in Environmental Management at Montclair State University in New Jersey, I returned to Afghanistan to work with the UN Country Team on how better natural resource management could support wider peacebuilding in my country. The UN Environment Program recently released a major report on natural resource management and peacebuilding that finds land and other scarce resources are often sources of coercion, influence, illicit revenues, and grievances against the government. Creating pathways to peace through these resources, rather than conflict, is a major challenge.

    Who Owns the Land?

    After the arrival of international forces in 2001, many Afghans were hopeful that the international community would lay down a new path to economic recovery. Refugees returned in hopes of starting a new life. Land rapidly increased in price, particularly in fast-growing urban areas, and was recognized as an increasingly important asset. This increase in land prices has led to increased competition, corruption, and conflict in some places. Meanwhile, continued uncertainty over rights, mainly due to a lack of clear land titles, has impeded development in many areas, both urban and rural.

    UNEP’s David Jensen speaks at TEDx on environmental peacebuilding in Afghanistan

    Many Afghans are worried about the future of Afghanistan once international forces withdraw, scheduled for the end of next year. So far, the government and the international community have not succeeded in addressing the country’s many land disputes or in creating a functioning and equitable land system, an important element for long-term stability. Meanwhile, anti-government insurgents, very powerful in some districts, are manipulating the situation by weakening the role of traditional structures and the government for resolving conflicts over land.

    Shared Waters

    Water management – specifically water sharing – is another contentious issue. A lack of infrastructure to store fresh water severely hampers development, while Afghans also face inadequate sanitation, pollution, and the threat of regional conflict over what water there is.

    The five major Afghan rivers are the Helmand, the Hari Rod, the Kunar, the Panjsher, and the Oxus (also known as the Amu Darya). These rivers, fed by the glaciers and snows of Afghanistan’s high mountains, flow into neighboring Iran, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, providing them with crucial freshwater.

    Unsurprisingly, water is an issue of tremendous political sensitivity, both domestically and internationally. Afghanistan’s neighbors fear that their flows will reduce as Afghanistan renovates its infrastructure after years of damage and neglect. Likewise, Afghans worry that after the withdrawal of international forces, the country may once again become a proxy battlefield for regional powers interested in gaining access to our water, forests, and minerals, as has happened in the past and continues today, in many respects.

    Rapid Deforestation

    Before the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, pistachio, almond, oak, and cedar forests covered extensive areas of the north and east of the country. These forested areas provided important income-generating opportunities, including building materials, game, firewood, and forest products. However, during the chaos of the past 35 years, poverty, instability, competition over fuel wood, and lack of law enforcement has driven rapid deforestation. This has not only accelerated erosion and damaged the landscape, but also raised tensions between different communities and further contributed to poverty.

    pistachio-forests

    While people in Afghanistan today are more environmentally aware than they were in the late 1980s, people are still desperately poor and have limited choices for survival. If policies are not aligned properly to stop deforestation and the illegal timber trade, the poor will keep overusing the resources for their own survival. Policies have to consider community forestry, the provision of alternative fuels, raising awareness about the benefits of sustainable forestry, and improved border and customs enforcement.

    Poppy Farming and a Buried Bonanza

    Also driven by poverty is Afghanistan’s status as one of the world’s largest producers of opium. The drug trade has become a lucrative funding source for insurgents, corrupt government officials, regional warlords, and criminal gangs. Unfortunately, poppy cultivation is the primary source of income in many rural areas, and the government and the international community’s counter-narcotic initiatives have largely failed because they have not been able to provide a viable alternative. Poppy cultivation has actually expanded in recent years as the insurgency has gathered pace. Finding a way to short circuit this trend should be a priority going forward.

    Afghans are well aware of the ironic nature of their buried wealth and the risks associated with it.

    Minerals are another critical resource, and one on which many are pinning Afghanistan’s future. After the withdrawal of international forces in 2014, it is hoped that the extractives sector will become the backbone of economic growth and stability. Recent assessments of oil, gas, copper, iron, and gemstones have estimated the value of the country’s largely untapped geological resources at between one and three trillion dollars.

    But the extractives sector can be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, our mineral and gas wealth could generate jobs, increase revenues, and fund major infrastructure projects. On the other, it could be a “curse” that encourages corruption, instigates bad governance, stunts economic growth, and causes new environmental, political, and social problems. Afghans are well aware of the ironic nature of their buried wealth and the risks associated with it, but our choices are very limited.

    Seize the Opportunity

    For effective peacebuilding in Afghanistan, effective and transparent natural resource management must be part of the solution – and should be considered an opportunity rather than a burden.

    In a poor country like Afghanistan, natural resources provide a large proportion of the wealth and can provide a foundation for sustainable development if their value is recognized and respected. It has also been proven that good environmental design at the beginning of development efforts and other large projects (e.g., infrastructure and energy projects) eventually pays off. The government has to build stronger inter- and intra-organizational coordination between its own agencies and with donors to help achieve these goals. In addition, donors should work to harmonize their plans and activities more effectively in order to help develop the capacity of the environmental sector. UNEP’s conflict resolution tools and strategic environmental assessments are both valuable tools in this context.

    Better management of Afghanistan’s natural resources not only matters for the country but also throughout Central and South Asia. With careful planning, and the advice of our elders, we can ensure that in the years to come Afghanistan’s resources are a blessing, not a curse.

    Shamim Niazi a researcher with UNEP Afghanistan. This blog is written in a personal capacity and does not necessarily reflect the views of UNEP.

    Sources: AFP, Lujala and Rustad (2011), UNEP, United Nations Country Team in Afghanistan.

    Image Credit: Natural Resource Management Guidance Chart, used with permission courtesy of UNEP. Video: TEDx Talk By UNEP’s David Jensen, courtesy of UNEPandYou. Photo: Deforested hills in Northern Afghanistan, used with permission courtesy of UNEP.

    Topics: Afghanistan, agriculture, Asia, conflict, development, energy, environment, environmental peacemaking, environmental security, featured, food security, Guest Contributor, land, livelihoods, minerals, natural resources, poverty, sanitation, security, U.S., UN, video, water
    • Niaz Shinwari

      Good read ! I think you might the first one, or one among the first few, touching upon one of the key issues of strategic importance to the country’s future. Of particular interest is “Deforestation” and its massive exploitation that does not only benefit other external players but at the same time, domestic consumers rely heavily on them as in snow season and unfortunately wood is sold legally even in capital – forget about provinces and rural area. No one has really cared about finding alternatives – we still rely on traditional methods in 21st century. Exploitation of water and other areas are pretty much political in nature and the administration might not have enough cards win the game while i strongly appreciate the point you made with regards other alternatives to poor people in poppy cultivation and deforestation. At least the government could do something in this area, if it wanted to. “Better late than never”, it should be a priority even today and tomorrow. On the fruits of mining, i would highly doubt it, at least in short run (may be next decade) given the kind of heavy required investment and the situation on ground. Let’s hope for a better and thanks giving us a good read today.

    • Walid Raine

      Very true that natural resources are like double-edged
      sword, Hence, Afghanistan has to be extremely cautious, particularly in mine
      sector. If mines are manipulated or monopolized, foremost impacts for
      Afghanistan will be highly dangerous and repercussions will be irreversible and
      significant. We saw in this last decade that the lack of compatibility or prioritization
      among intervention objectives led to contradictory policies and often hybrid
      solutions. It is quite ironic, when international communities along with
      certain beurocrates in the government claim that development and peace should
      go hand in hand, but concurrently since 2001, only US has spent USD 127 billion
      for the war in Afghanistan. US military per day cost is 100 million, a total of
      around USD 36 billion per year. Seems like resources have been used for raising
      more conflicts and tensions and certainly not for peacebuilding. There is need
      of changing the trends, such as budget priority should reflect people
      priorities. More research and strive to overcome short-term crises of security is
      needed.

    • Ziaurahman Safi

      I can see how natural resources play their role in the development of a peaceful of Afghanistan. For instance, only hope for Afghanistan after 2014 is its mining sector. However, much more work and research is needed, especially when we talk about sustainable development. Since international forces has announced their exist strategy, rumors of civil war in Afghanistan are again at its peak. The already weak governance is not at the position to properly defend its integrity, build confidence with our predatory neighbors, and build trust with its own people. Similarly, security sector and judicial bodies are not being able to build public trust, which is necessary for the state legitimacy. However, since the collapse of Taliban regime, Afghanistan has been moving very steadily from being a deprived country to a fully independent country, and strengthening its institute, its believe on democracy, transparency, and accountability. In fact, international actors do not have the leverage, capacities, or legitimacy to bring peace to Afghanistan because international community have relatively limited scope to bring changes in such a complex and deeply embedded regional conflict system. But international actors, for instance, UN through its programmes in full coordination with government and local communities keeping in view the political sensitivity can provide contextual background required to understand the relationship of the natural resources and peace and their lead role in the peacebuilding.
      Ziaurahman Safi,

    • Naheed

      Very good analytical writing. Our “other” major political( security) and social problems have been so much under focused that, unfortunately, overshadowed the roots causing those problems. This was, to me, at least, the first reading of a very key, yet marginal, conflict issue in current Afghanistan. Thanks for providing this information.

    • Abdul Hameed Akbar

      Amidst uncertainty and fears about what the future holds for Afghanistan beyond 2014, it’s very encouraging to read scholarly works of this type that explore a different set of challenges facing the often-incorrectly addressed “Fragile Afghanistan.” Reports that portray Afghanistan as “more prone to conflict and likely to collapse” are unfortunately the product of less unbiased analysis.

      More than anything else, what the country needs now is increased focus on sectors and issues that induce optimism, erode fears and instill confidence in Afghan hearts. Afghanistan’s natural wealth and its potential to change lives for the better is one such issue that keeps the hope alive.

      However, natural resources as this blog cautions, can prove to be a trap (Paul Collier), which if not transparently and accountably extracted, will push the country further into conflict and chaos.

      The recent efforts made by the Afghan government to reach out to foreign investors to invest in Afghanistan’s nascent extractives industry is a sign of growing political will to utilize the country’s resources, but more needs to be done to ensure that utilization does not turn into exploitation and yet another source of corruption, warlordism, and theft.

      The government of Afghanistan now needs to engage in multilateral negotiations with countries in the region to resolve water disputes to by negotiating treaties that equally and justly benefit the whole region. Moreover, the region shares close ethnic, religious, cultural, and linguistic ties. These are commonalities we have to fully utilize to pacify that region and to help our people prosper.

      On Poppy cultivation, you can’t eradicate this menace only by focusing on those who grow and produce it. Ironically, the poor farmers in Afghanistan are the ones who benefit the least from it. Massive poppy (drug) money goes into the pockets of traffickers, corrupt officials, and insurgency financiers. What’s needed is a
      multidimensional counter-narcotics approach which will not only help provide
      alternative livelihoods to Afghan farmers (an initiative failing largely due to
      inefficient, shortsighted, ill-conceived program implementation mechanisms) and
      a transnational or regional anti-narcotics cooperation framework enforced with
      full financial and political commitment by the governments of and key players
      in the region.

      I think it’s a very timely, carefully written piece of work that approaches an extremely sensitive, but vital issue in a prudent, objective manner and make recommendations that can help boost peace and prosperity in the region.

      I must also not forget to point out that it’s not just our natural wealth that gives many Afghans like me a hope for a better-governed Afghanistan, but it’s also our growing human wealth – capacities – that keep us running and that human wealth definitely includes people like you, Shamim Niazi.

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