Why does Afghanistan need irrigation for much of its farming?

Afghanistan requires irrigation for much of its farming primarily because a significant portion of the country is arid or semiarid. The climate is characterized as a semiarid steppe, featuring hot, dry summers and limited annual precipitation in many regions.12

Because of these dry conditions, approximately half of the country's cultivated land must be irrigated to support agriculture. Furthermore, the seasonal flow of Afghanistan's rivers—which are often torrential in the spring due to snowmelt but negligible during the hot summer months—necessitates the use of dams and reservoirs to manage and store water for agricultural use throughout the growing season. Major river systems, such as the Helmand River, serve as vital lifelines for these rural economies, with the Helmand basin alone accounting for about one-third of the country's irrigated land.134