Once home to flourishing fig orchards that supported local livelihoods, Kandahar’s Shah Wali Kot district—tucked between rugged mountains—now bears the scars of prolonged drought. The orchards that once sustained families have withered, and residents are fleeing in search of something as basic as drinking water.
Along the rocky foothills on the road to Tarinkot, the capital of Uruzgan Province mud-brick homes still stand. Families live in them out of necessity, even though the springs and wells they once relied on have long dried up.
Among those struggling to survive is the 12-member family of 13-year-old Zabihullah.
Despite his young age, Zabihullah B. speaks with the burden of someone much older. Every day, he and his 10-year-old brother walk one kilometer to fetch enough water to drink and meet the family’s most critical needs.
“We carry the water jugs early in the morning and again in the evening,” Zabihullah told. “We make this trip three times a day. At night, when we go to bed, my brother and I suffer from severe body pain. Our mother massages our limbs so we can sleep.”
Zabihullah’s father, Abdul Qodus, works as a gardener in a village three kilometers away, earning 10,000 Afghanis ($152) a month. He says he never wanted his young sons to shoulder such hard labor.
“They are too young for such work,” Abdul said. “But we have no choice. Without their help, we would have no water at all. Nearly all the children in this village spend their childhood carrying water instead of playing or studying.”
Education has become a distant dream for many.
Safe Water Out of Reach
UNICEF warns that “record droughts have deprived many children and families of clean water, forcing them from their homes” as wells dry up and groundwater collapses across rural districts.
In its 2025 humanitarian update, UNICEF reports that 37 percent of surveyed Afghan households list water as their most urgent need, highlighting a nationwide crisis that extends far beyond the northern provinces. The agency says rising water scarcity is also driving child malnutrition, as drought weakens agriculture and reduces household food supplies.
Humanitarian groups say the crisis is displacing families, closing schools, and forcing children to walk long distances daily to fetch water. Save the Children reports that in many drought-hit communities, children are “carrying water instead of going to school”, often from unsafe sources shared with livestock.
Aid agencies have scaled up emergency water interventions, but the gap remains large. Between January and July 2025, UNICEF provided safe drinking water to more than 700,000 people — a fraction of the millions affected. The organization warns that climate-driven drought will continue to deepen unless long-term water-management systems are restored.
The situation extends far beyond Kandahar. In neighboring provinces—Uruzgan, Helmand, and Zabul—families face similar struggles. In many areas, especially around Tarinkot’s Kariz-e Khayro region, nearly 5,000 households lack access to drinking water, and 90 percent depend on their children to fetch it from distant sources.
Although a school exists in Kariz-e Khayro, most families have withdrawn their children so they can help carry water.
55-year-old Mohammad Zia, once proud to send his son and daughter to school, has now pulled them out. Twice a day, they push a small handcart to a water source 1.5 kilometers away.
“I’m an old man,” Mohammad said. “I don’t have the strength to carry water every day. We have to rely on our children. Almost every family here does the same.”
Children Suffer, Say Psychologists
Health specialists and psychologists warn that children in southern Afghanistan are suffering the worst consequences of the drought.
Mohammad Saddiq Hamidi, a psychologist at a child-care center in Kandahar, says the damage goes far beyond physical exhaustion.
“These children are being deprived of their right to childhood,” Mohammad said. “Instead of learning, playing, or developing socially, they spend their days hauling water. This causes deep psychological stress and long-term developmental problems.”
