Border closures and drought threaten Afghan pomegranate harvest

Border closures in Pakistan, as well as an acute water supply shortage, are threatening the production and export of Afghanistan's pomegranates, a major export of its southern province Kandahar.

The Kandahar pomegranate, renowned for its juiciness and vivid red colour, is in season from September to November. However, locals have bemoaned the drought plaguing their orchards, saying it has increased the cost of agricultural production as they have had to rely on water pumps to irrigate their crop.