Afghanistan: Water Crisis in Qaisar: Women and Children Bear the Heaviest Burden

Jun 3, 2026 | Farhad Farhaad
Hasht e Subh
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Residents of Qaisar district in Faryab province have raised concerns about the shortage of safe drinking water and the lack of sufficient water for farming and agriculture. Some women say that while their male relatives work the fields, the burden of fetching water falls entirely on them, forcing them to travel long distances by pack animal to bring water home. Villagers across Qaisar identify the water crisis as only one of several pressing hardships: women have no employment opportunities, functioning medical clinics are largely absent, roads are difficult to navigate, and boys’ schools remain too far for most children to reach. Residents add that women whose husbands and male relatives have left for neighboring countries or distant regions in search of work face acute economic hardship, and that job opportunities for these women are urgently needed.

The water crisis compounds broader anxieties about drought across Faryab. Some residents of Qaisar say the shortage has already dried out many of their grape orchards, and that people must travel considerable distances to fetch drinking water from springs and remote sources.