پائین آوردن سطح آسیب پذیری در برابر خشک سالی

آب یک نعمت بزرگ الهی است که بدون آن زندگی زنده جان ها امکان ندارد. آب شیرین یکی از منابع طبیعی محدود در جهان میباشد، که استفاده بی رویه از آن باعث پیامدهای ناگوار شده میتواند. چون افغانستان اقلیم خشک و بری دارد و میزان بارندگی سالانه آن بسیار کم میباشد (تقریباً ۳۰۰ ملی متر)، مسئله استفاده از منابع طبیعی آب برای مصرف فامیل ها، زراعت و صنایع بسیار جدی میباشد. گفته میشود که ظرفیت منابع آبی کشور به ۷۵ میلیار متر مکعب میرسد، البته این مقدار در نوسان میباشد. استفاده بهینه از این منابع آبي همراه با حفاظت و تقویت آن بسیار ضروری پنداشته میشود. این یک موضوع بزگ است و طی چند سطر به همه جوانب آن رسیدگی کردن مشکل است. در اینجا مشخص بالای تکرار نسبتاً منظم خشک و آب سالی، و چگونگی مدیریت کم آبی جهت پائین آوردن سطح آسیب پذیری میباشد. 

Reliable Data is Necessary for Establishing an Accountable and Transparent Public Administration

Establishing an accountable and transparent administration is one of the main mottos of the previous and present governments of Afghanistan. This should be the main goal in countries experiencing a prolonged period of political and economic instability such as Afghanistan. President Ashraf Ghani has been working tirelessly to establish an efficient, responsible, accountable and transparent public administration. He is going to run with such a promise in the next presidential elections. However, this should be the main agenda of any future government of Afghanistan no matter who will be leading it. 

The Remarkable Change in Fuel Price of Kabul Market

       As you know, the fuel prices in major cities including Kabul has been experiencing upward trend in winters. Although I could not get the price data for this winter period, the following Table summarize the change in real and nominal prices of petrol, diesel and liquid gas between May and November 2018 in Kabul city. The data show that during this short period (before winter), the real price of petrol, diesel and liquid gas has substantially increased by 16%, 25% and 33%, respectively. This is much lesser than the 7% depreciation of Afghanis against US dollar, which is commonly quoted as reason for higher fuel prices in the country. 

      I wanted to turn the attention of relevant authorities to this problem, which is known to everyone but no one take the responsibility to correct fuel market. The lobbying and pressures 
      If we analyze the difference between FoB (export) and CIF (imported) prices of fuel, the profit margin of traders is very high and unfair. The fuel market concentration lead to asymmetric price transmission. That is, prices are increased very fast but decrease in prices is very slow. In other words, the high prices of fuel are sticky. 

Trends in International Rice Prices

• After posting a mild (0.7 percent) recovery in December 2018, the FAO All Rice Price Index (2002-04=100) reached 220.1 points in January 2019.  At that level, the Index stood 1.8 percent above its December value, but still 1.7 percent below levels registered a year earlier. 

• January’s Index increase was led by 4.1 percent rise in Japonica prices. These were buoyed by a series of Asian import tenders, launched in the context of tighter export availabilities and poor production prospects for drought-stricken Australia. The Aromatica Index also edged up in January, although subdued buying interest capped currency-led gains in this segment to around 1.2 percent. By contrast, a quiet pace of trade kept Indica quotations steady to mildly weaker for a second successive month. 

• Thai prices strengthened during January in tandem with a further Baht appreciation. After touching 26-month lows in December, Pakistani values also staged a modest recovery on the back of East African sales. Meanwhile, a fast pace of public domestic procurement and a slow progress of Rabi plantings promoted another advance in Indian Indica offers. By contrast, a dearth of fresh sales and promising prospects for the imminent 2019 winter-spring harvest caused prices in Viet Nam to slide by 7 percent to their lowest since May 2017. The undertone was also bearish in Cambodia and Myanmar, where news of the EU’s instatement of safeguard measures against Indica imports from these countries weighed on sentiment. In the Americas, deals to Latin American buyers sustained Indica quotations in the United States, while slow demand kept values stable in Brazil and Uruguay, or lowered them slightly as in the case of Argentina, despite seasonally tight availabilities and subdued prospects for forthcoming 2019 harvests in these countries. 

For more information about the international rice prices, please follow the link below:

http://www.fao.org/economic/est/publications/rice-publications/the-fao-rice-price-update/en/

Source: FAO