he recent sectarian clashes in Kurram, following a land dispute, left several people killed and injured. Due to the conflict, the main Tal Parachinar Road remains closed. It is vegetable season in the Kurram Valley. With the main artery closed for traffic, the farmers faced issues of access and potential food loss.

An elderly man in Upper Kurram sits in front of a heap of tomatoes. “We are poor farmers. It’s tomato season—our only hope and source of income. For God’s sake, end the conflict and open the road,” he pleads.

From Bajaur to South Waziristan, the ongoing conflict has caused food losses for over a decade now. Jawad Iqbal Salarzai, a social activist from the Bajaur district says that in 2007, when militancy flared up, farmers did not cultivate maize crops along roadsides due to security reasons. It was believed that the standing crop provided a cover for militants to hide and attack security forces.

“Some farmers were not allowed to cultivate maize. Many fields remained uncultivated. It was considered a security risk,” says Salarzai.

Recently, tunnel farming of tomatoes has been introduced in parts of the province, he says. In tunnel farming, the height of the tomato plant reaches up to 12 feet. In the Mamund area of Bajaur, three cases were reported where unidentified people uprooted tomato plants from an entire field.

In Waziristan and some other tribal districts, cropped fields provided sanctuaries to militant groups. When people displaced due to militancy returned to their homes, incidents of improvised explosive devices going off resulted in dozens of people, including children, being killed and injured. The fear has persisted and, in some areas, people are not cultivating the lands. The areas remain barren pending thorough demining of the area.

“The conflict in the tribal districts has affected farming. The farmers have faced severe food losses,” says Salarzai.

Dr Ilam Khan, who holds a doctorate in peace and conflict studies, says that in 2007 when military operations were launched in tribal areas, many people were displaced.

“For five to six years, the agricultural land remained barren. Even at the time of displacement people had to abandon their crops and orchards,” says Khan.

To curb terrorism in tribal areas, the government banned storage of the ammonium nitrate fertiliser owing to its explosive nature. Such actions also affected agriculture in the seven tribal districts. This, in turn, affected food production.

Ilam Khan says irrigation water channels too were destroyed by floods. With water channels damaged, irrigated agriculture became hard and the land turned barren. Khan says when the internally displaced people returned to their villages, many of them were unable to restore the damaged water channels.

Now, there is a new trend in farming in Bajaur. Many farmers are installing solar-power tube wells in the district.

“In some of the tribal districts, farmers are facing accessibility challenges. The lack of communication infrastructure, road blocks due to conflict and sporadic access to metropolitans’ food markets force local farmers to sell their produce locally at cheap prices. At other times, they face food losses,” Ilam Khan says.

Dr Rizwan Shinwari, who has a peace and conflict doctorate, hails from the Khyber district. He says that the ongoing conflict has adversely impacted agricultural productivity in the tribal districts.

“The armed conflict in South Waziristan has affected pine nut yield resulting in heavy losses in production,” Shinwari says. After the conflict, the yield increased and the harvest was supplied to various parts of the country. It was also exported to Saudia Arabia and other countries.

For academic work, Dr Shinwari visited Tirah valley in Khyber district. Over the decades, the valley has become known for cultivation of weed and cannabis. “I asked farmers why they don’t cultivate food instead of growing narcotics. The farmers replied that food items have no market. The volatile situation, the armed conflict and accessibility issues make the farmers grow weeds and cannabis instead.”

Mohsin Ali, president of the Parachinar fruit and vegetable market, says that the ongoing conflict has closed the Tal Parachinar Road for traffic. “It’s vegetable season in Parachinar. In peaceful days, when the roads were open, our vegetable was supplied to Thal, Kohat and other districts. The road closure and armed conflict in the valley have brought the price of tomatoes down to Rs 50 per kg. This is a huge loss for local farmers,” Ali says.

The writer is a multimedia producer. He tweets @daudpasaney