In Afghanistan, the climate crisis is a water crisis. Years of prolonged drought, rising temperatures and increasingly unpredictable weather have left millions — nearly 1 in 3 people — struggling to access safe, reliable water. Families are being forced to leave their homes, crops are failing, and children are growing up facing hunger, disease and uncertainty.

Without clean water, every part of daily life is affected. Children are more vulnerable to waterborne diseases, malnutrition keeps them from reaching their full potential, and hours spent collecting water take time away from education and opportunities. For farming families, scarce water threatens harvests, incomes and the ability to provide for the future.

But clean water changes everything.

From protecting children's health to helping crops grow, strengthening livelihoods and restoring dignity: clean water creates lasting change for families and communities. Discover six ways your support can help transform lives across Afghanistan.

1. Clean Water Protects Children from Waterborne Disease

For families across Afghanistan, the climate crisis is becoming a health crisis. As drought dries up rivers and wells, many families are left with no choice but to rely on unsafe water sources for drinking, cooking and washing. Contaminated water increases the spread of waterborne diseases such as diarrhoea and cholera, putting young children at greatest risk.

The consequences are severe. Waterborne diseases and repeated illness prevent children from growing up healthy, while increasing pressure on families and overstretched health services. At the same time, prolonged drought and water shortages are disrupting harvests, contributing to rising levels of malnutrition and leaving children more vulnerable to disease.

Working alongside local communities, Afghanaid helps families access clean, reliable water through community-led water systems. As a result, children are protected from preventable illnesses, hygiene improves and communities become healthier. Healthy children are then better able to grow, learn and thrive.

2. Clean Water Helps Prevent Hunger and Malnutrition

Today, an estimated 3.7 million children in Afghanistan are facing acute malnutrition. Years of drought, failing harvests and water scarcity have left families struggling to grow enough food, while unsafe water, poor sanitation and inadequate hygiene continue to put children's health at risk.

Repeated diarrhoeal diseases, caused by contaminated water, prevent children from absorbing the nutrients they need to grow and thrive, pushing already vulnerable children deeper into malnutrition. Without reliable access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene, the fight against hunger cannot be won.

Reliable water helps families grow nutritious food. With safe water to drink and enough water to grow nutritious food, families can improve their diets, protect children's health and give them the opportunity to grow stronger and healthier. Better nutrition begins with reliable water—and with enough water, families can also grow the crops they depend on.

3. Water Helps Crops Grow and Harvests Thrive

For farming families, every harvest depends on water. Years of drought and increasingly unpredictable weather have left fields dry, crops failing and families struggling to grow enough food.

Reliable irrigation changes this. By bringing water back to farms, crops can grow, harvests become more productive and families are better able to withstand future droughts.

Last year, together with local communities, we built and rehabilitated more than 178 kilometres of irrigation canals, helping bring water back to farmland where it is needed most. Reliable irrigation enables crops to grow, improves harvests and helps farming families produce more food — creating a stronger foundation for their livelihoods.

4. Reliable Water Strengthens Livelihoods

When water disappears, so do livelihoods. Without reliable water, drought dries up fields and crops fail, leaving families without a dependable source of income and pushing them deeper into poverty.

Access to reliable water changes this. By restoring irrigation systems and improving access to water, Afghanaid is helping farming families build more secure livelihoods. Greater financial security allows parents to invest in their farms, keep their children in education and create new opportunities for the future.

5. Water Opens the Door to Opportunity

Climate change is threatening more than livelihoods — it is threatening communities and the future they hope to build.

Recurrent drought, declining rainfall and environmental degradation are placing increasing pressure on communities across Afghanistan. As water becomes more scarce and livelihoods are threatened, more families are being forced to leave their homes in search of water and opportunities. Without immediate action, experts warn that parts of the region could become uninhabitable.

Through community-led water projects, we restore water systems, drill wells and install pipeline networks so families can continue living, learning, and thriving in the communities they call home.

When clean water is available, children can spend more time learning instead of collecting water, parents have more time to work, and communities can stay together  — creating brighter futures for generations to come.

6. Clean Water Helps Communities Live with Dignity

Living without clean water affects every part of daily life. Families are forced to rely on unsafe water sources, while inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene put their health, safety and wellbeing at risk. For women and girls in particular, the lack of privacy and safe sanitation can make everyday life both difficult and undignified.

Our teams work alongside communities to improve access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene. Through improved sanitation facilities and hygiene promotion, we help create cleaner, healthier communities where families can live with greater safety, independence and dignity.

Roya*, a mother of six, reflects on the transformation in her village:

“The access to safe water has transformed our daily lives... enabling our community to live in a cleaner, healthier and more dignified environment.”

*Roya's name has been changed to protect her privacy