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| Version 5 | Version 6 |
|---|---|
| Scraps of stale bread are keeping Afghans alive | Scraps of stale bread are keeping Afghans alive |
| (5 months later) | |
| Stalls sell much more old naan bread in Kabul than they used to | Stalls sell much more old naan bread in Kabul than they used to |
| Stalls sell much more old naan bread in Kabul than they used to | |
| On a market stall in front of a blue-domed mosque in Kabul, large orange sacks are filled with stale, leftover naan bread. | On a market stall in front of a blue-domed mosque in Kabul, large orange sacks are filled with stale, leftover naan bread. |
| It's usually fed to animals, but now, according to those selling it, more Afghans than ever are eating it themselves. | It's usually fed to animals, but now, according to those selling it, more Afghans than ever are eating it themselves. |
| Shafi Mohammed has been selling stale bread for the past 30 years at Kabul's Pul-e-Kheshti market. | Shafi Mohammed has been selling stale bread for the past 30 years at Kabul's Pul-e-Kheshti market. |
| "Before, five people used to buy this bread in a day, now it's more than 20 people," he says. | "Before, five people used to buy this bread in a day, now it's more than 20 people," he says. |
| The market is bustling - and everyone there we speak to complains of the economic crisis that has enveloped the country. Average incomes have been slashed by a third since the Taliban takeover last August, whilst food prices have risen sharply. | The market is bustling - and everyone there we speak to complains of the economic crisis that has enveloped the country. Average incomes have been slashed by a third since the Taliban takeover last August, whilst food prices have risen sharply. |
| Rifling through the sacks, Shafi Mohammed shows me the cleaner, though still stale, bread that customers who will eat it themselves search for, as opposed to even older, mouldy pieces. | Rifling through the sacks, Shafi Mohammed shows me the cleaner, though still stale, bread that customers who will eat it themselves search for, as opposed to even older, mouldy pieces. |
| "The life of the Afghan people right now is like that of a bird which has been locked in a cage with no food or water," he says. "I pray to God to get rid of this misery and poverty from my country." | "The life of the Afghan people right now is like that of a bird which has been locked in a cage with no food or water," he says. "I pray to God to get rid of this misery and poverty from my country." |
| Bread is a nationwide staple - many Afghans now can't afford much more | Bread is a nationwide staple - many Afghans now can't afford much more |
| Bread is a nationwide staple - many Afghans now can't afford much more | |
| Humanitarian aid has been delivered in Afghanistan, averting fears of a famine over the winter, but there are warnings it is no longer enough. | Humanitarian aid has been delivered in Afghanistan, averting fears of a famine over the winter, but there are warnings it is no longer enough. |
| In any case, the crisis has fundamentally been driven by the decision of Western countries to largely cut off development aid Afghanistan was heavily reliant on, and freeze the country's central bank reserves after the Taliban took power. | In any case, the crisis has fundamentally been driven by the decision of Western countries to largely cut off development aid Afghanistan was heavily reliant on, and freeze the country's central bank reserves after the Taliban took power. |
| The move is in part a response to concerns over the treatment of women under their rule - and the new hard-line restrictions by the Taliban, dictating what women should wear for example, make a resolution difficult. | The move is in part a response to concerns over the treatment of women under their rule - and the new hard-line restrictions by the Taliban, dictating what women should wear for example, make a resolution difficult. |
| But it's poor families like father-of-three Hashmatullah's who are the ones suffering. | But it's poor families like father-of-three Hashmatullah's who are the ones suffering. |
| He works pushing other people's shopping around the market, but has seen his already meagre income drop to a fifth of what it was last year. | He works pushing other people's shopping around the market, but has seen his already meagre income drop to a fifth of what it was last year. |
| Buying a shopping bag of stale bread, he tells the BBC: "I've been working since the morning and this is all I can afford." | Buying a shopping bag of stale bread, he tells the BBC: "I've been working since the morning and this is all I can afford." |
| The Afghan children battling malnutrition and measles | The Afghan children battling malnutrition and measles |
| The Afghan children battling malnutrition and measles | |
| Policing faces, bodies and beards on Kabul streets | Policing faces, bodies and beards on Kabul streets |
| Policing faces, bodies and beards on Kabul streets | |
| The secret girls' school defying the Taliban | The secret girls' school defying the Taliban |
| The secret girls' school defying the Taliban | |
| The Taliban’s secretive war against IS | The Taliban’s secretive war against IS |
| The Taliban’s secretive war against IS | |
| There's a small industry behind the stale bread. Scrap collectors pick it up from restaurants, hospitals and individual homes and then take it to middlemen, who sell it on to stallholders. | There's a small industry behind the stale bread. Scrap collectors pick it up from restaurants, hospitals and individual homes and then take it to middlemen, who sell it on to stallholders. |
| But with around half the country going hungry, there's less bread going spare, less everything. | But with around half the country going hungry, there's less bread going spare, less everything. |
| Scrap dealers used to collect a sack of bread a day - now they themselves rely on leftovers | Scrap dealers used to collect a sack of bread a day - now they themselves rely on leftovers |
| Scrap dealers used to collect a sack of bread a day - now they themselves rely on leftovers | |
| "People are starving," says one scrap dealer, as he points out a single sack of leftover bread that had been collected over a week. In the past, he says, they collected a sack per day. | "People are starving," says one scrap dealer, as he points out a single sack of leftover bread that had been collected over a week. In the past, he says, they collected a sack per day. |
| "If we find bread that is clean, we usually eat it ourselves," says another dealer. | "If we find bread that is clean, we usually eat it ourselves," says another dealer. |
| Back at his home in a poor neighbourhood of Kabul, Hashmatullah prepares a meal for his family. | Back at his home in a poor neighbourhood of Kabul, Hashmatullah prepares a meal for his family. |
| He's doing everything he can to keep his three young sons in school, as opposed to sending them out to work as many other families have done with their children. | He's doing everything he can to keep his three young sons in school, as opposed to sending them out to work as many other families have done with their children. |
| But it means surviving almost exclusively off stale bread, cooked and softened with tomatoes and onions. | But it means surviving almost exclusively off stale bread, cooked and softened with tomatoes and onions. |
| "I feel ashamed in front of my family, that I am so poor I can't afford to provide them good food," he tells us. | "I feel ashamed in front of my family, that I am so poor I can't afford to provide them good food," he tells us. |
| Hashmatullah and his sons live almost entirely off stale bread with onion and tomatoes | |
| Hashmatullah and his sons live almost entirely off stale bread with onion and tomatoes | Hashmatullah and his sons live almost entirely off stale bread with onion and tomatoes |
| "There's nothing I can do. Even if I try and borrow money, no one will lend it to me… My sons are really thin because they are not eating well." | "There's nothing I can do. Even if I try and borrow money, no one will lend it to me… My sons are really thin because they are not eating well." |
| Outside bakeries across Kabul, it's become common to see groups of women and girls queuing for free pieces of fresh naan, donated in the early evening. | Outside bakeries across Kabul, it's become common to see groups of women and girls queuing for free pieces of fresh naan, donated in the early evening. |
| Some bring sewing kits with them, and spend the whole day there, desperate not to miss their chance. | Some bring sewing kits with them, and spend the whole day there, desperate not to miss their chance. |
| Even when billions of dollars were pouring into Afghanistan, corruption and the effects of the war meant life was a struggle. | Even when billions of dollars were pouring into Afghanistan, corruption and the effects of the war meant life was a struggle. |
| Now, the war is over, but in many ways the struggle is getting even harder. | Now, the war is over, but in many ways the struggle is getting even harder. |
| This video can not be played | This video can not be played |
| To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. | To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. |
| Kids of Kabul: Shining shoes for a piece of bread | Kids of Kabul: Shining shoes for a piece of bread |
| Kids of Kabul: Shining shoes for a piece of bread | Kids of Kabul: Shining shoes for a piece of bread |
| Related Topics | Related Topics |
| War in Afghanistan (2001-2021) | War in Afghanistan (2001-2021) |
| Afghanistan | Afghanistan |
| Taliban | Taliban |
| Cost of Living | Cost of Living |