Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has allocated $10 million to reinforce the Afghan banks of the Amu Darya River, where erosion threatens farmland and homes, the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Investment (ACCI) said after talks in Balkh on Tuesday.
The announcement followed a meeting in Balkh between the province’s governor, Mohammad Yousuf Wafa, and his Uzbek counterpart, Ulugbek Kosimov, governor of the neighbouring Surkhandarya region, according to the ACCI.
It said the project followed a request by Balkh’s governor.
“The Governor of Balkh had previously proposed the project to prevent erosion and the loss of Afghan territory caused by the river’s changing banks,” Wafa said.
The Amu Darya forms much of Afghanistan’s northern border and supplies irrigation water to farming communities. But seasonal flooding and shifting riverbanks have also destroyed homes, farmland and irrigation channels.
A study published in 2021 in the scientific journal Geodetski List found that sections of the Amu Darya had shifted by nearly three kilometres towards Afghanistan between 1990 and 2020, damaging agricultural land along BBB the river.
Riverside communities rely on farming and livestock, leaving their incomes vulnerable when flooding destroys land and crops.
The river also faces increasing demand for irrigation. Afghanistan’s Qosh Tepa canal project, intended to divert its water, has raised concerns about supplies downstream.
The meeting also addressed problems faced by Afghan exporters and traders transporting goods through Uzbekistan. Railway matters and dedicated transport routes were discussed.
The chamber said Uzbek traders were expected to visit Afghanistan at some time in the future.
“The two sides also agreed that a delegation of Uzbek traders would visit Afghanistan to explore opportunities for purchasing and importing Afghan agricultural products, particularly apples and pomegranates.”
The meeting was also attended by Afghanistan’s Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock, Ataullah Omari, Uzbekistan’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, Ismatullah Irgashev, and the Chairman of the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Investment, Sayed Karim Hashemi.
The chamber did not provide a timeline for the riverbank reinforcement project.
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