STORY: Afghans preparing to celebrate Eid al-Adha amid economic hardship
SHOOTING TIME: June 11, 2024
DATELINE: June 17, 2024
LENGTH: 00:02:06
LOCATION: Kabul
CATEGORY: ECONOMY/CULTURE

SHOTLIST:
1. various of a livestock market in Kabul
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Dari): RAHMATULLAH, Kabul resident
3. various of a livestock market in Kabul
4. SOUNDBITE 2 (Dari): KHAN MOHAMMAD, Livestock seller
5. various of a livestock market in Kabul
6. SOUNDBITE 3 (Dari): EISA KHAN, Soft drink seller
7. various of a livestock market in Kabul

STORYLINE:

The people of Afghanistan begin to celebrate Eid al-Adha on Monday.

However, the high rates of unemployment and poverty have drastically reduced the purchasing power of Afghan people, hindering their ability to shop.

At an animal market on the western edge of Kabul, Rahmatullah, 28, sought to buy a sheep to sacrifice.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Dari): RAHMATULLAH, Kabul resident
"I am wandering in the bazaar but could not buy a sheep because of the high price. With the prices going up, no one can buy. In the past, we bought a sheep at 16,000 or 17,000 afghanis (about 229 to 243 U.S. dollars) but this year it is 19,000 to 20,000 afghanis. The economic situation in Afghanistan is worse. I would otherwise have already bought a sheep. The people are facing worse economic hardship because of unemployment and the impoverished economy of Afghanistan."

Livestock seller Khan Mohammad also expressed dissatisfaction over the low demand and his meager income, as the number of customers had not met his expectations.
   
Mohammad bought 22 cows from the villages to sell in Kabul ahead of Eid al-Adha, but the cattle market, according to him, is a flop.

SOUNDBITE 2 (Dari): KHAN MOHAMMAD, Livestock seller
"I paid 70,000 afghanis for each cow, but buyers demand to pay only 60,000 to 65,000 afghanis. I am at a loss."

Lamenting the poverty and economic hardship, the livestock supplier said he had sold only five cows over the past week, whereas last year ahead of the festival, he sold 10 to 12 cows every day.

Afghans, according to aid agencies' reports, are facing acute food insecurity and urgently need humanitarian assistance. One-fourth of the people in Afghanistan go to sleep hungry every evening, said the Afghanistan office of the World Food Program on Friday.
   
Eisa Khan, a 48-year-old soft drink seller, is another victim suffering from poverty. 

Khan, the father of an eight-member family who earns about 200 afghanis daily, said he could not buy anything for the festival and cannot sacrifice an animal either.

SOUNDBITE 3 (Dari): EISA KHAN, Soft drink seller
"We are suffering. Our children are suffering. They (our children) want us to sacrifice an animal but we can't."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Kabul.
(XHTV)