SUMMARY

¨ Environmental degradation affects growth in the agriculture sector and negatively affects the lives of the poor. The most vulnerable, such as female-headed households, households with physically disabled members, landless households or those farming only small rain-fed plots suffer the most.This is true of both the urban and rural poor, who suffer from lack of access to safe water, basic sanitation, and sustainable energy sources.

¨ The forests and woodlands of Afghanistan supply important sources of firewood and construction materials critical for cooking, shelter and overall survival. Afghans in rural areas rely almost entirely on solid fuels.With an increasing population, there will be growing use of wood for cooking and thus an increasing loss of forest cover, if no urgent action is taken.Also, illegal commercial timber logging constitutes a massive threat for the survival of forests in Afghanistan.

¨ With the loss of forests and vegetation, and excessive grazing and dry land cultivation, soils are being exposed to serious erosion from wind and rain. Land productivity is declining, driving people from rural to urban areas in search of food and employment.

¨ In urban centres, poor waste management practices and the lack of modern sanitation and sewage systems are the primary environmental factors affecting human health. Moreover, levels of air pollution in Afghan cities, particularly in Kabul, Kandahar and Mazar-i-Sharif, appear to be high.

¨ Environmental degradation has a significant impact on the availability of and access to clean drinking water. Lack of access to improved water sources and poor sanitation is a major contributory factor to poor health outcomes, for children in particular. More than half of all Afghans living in urban centres have no access to water from improved water sources. In rural areas, it is estimated that 4 out of every 5 Afghans may be drinking contaminated water.

¨ Only 1 in 3 Afghans in urban areas has access to improved sanitation. In rural areas, only 1 out of 10 Afghans has access to improved sanitation. In rural areas, the focus is on the need for hygiene education and improved latrines; in urban areas there is greater need for increasing access to functioning sewage systems.

¨ Nearly 75% of the urban population, estimated at close to 5 million, may be living in slums. Afghanistan also has the highest rate of urbanisation in Asia, 6% per year, which puts a high burden on the already weak service delivery in urban centres.

AFGHANISTAN'S REVISED MDG TARGETS AND INDICATORS

==> Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programmes and reverse the loss of environmental resources

¨ Proportion of land area covered by forest
¨ Ratio of area protected to maintain biological diversity to surface area
¨ Energy use (kg oil equivalent) per US$1,000 GDP (PPP)
¨ Carbon dioxide emissions (per capita) and consumption of ozone-depleting CFCs
¨ Proportion of population using solid fuels

==> Halve, by 2020, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and sanitation

¨ Proportion of population with sustainable access to an improved water source, urban and rural
¨ Proportion of population with access to improved sanitation, urban and rural

==> By 2020 to have achieved a significant improvement in the lives of all slum dwellers

¨ Proportion of households with access to secure tenure

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