Officials with MAIL said approximately $28 million will be invested in the facilities, which are expected to have the capacity to store more than 150,000 tonnes of wheat. The facilities will be built in the provinces of Baghlan, Balkh, Kandahar, Herat and Kabul.

By building new storage facilities MAIL officials believe Afghanistan will be better equipped to deal with threats that arise from natural disasters, droughts and other emergency situations.

“There are storage facilities in some provinces, but they have little capacity; the ministry of agriculture and irrigation is working together with the World Bank to construct at least five storage facilities,” Akbar Rustami, a spokesman with MAIL, told TOLO News.

The news article noted that Afghanistan currently has nine storage facilities in nine provinces. The country needs 6 million tonnes of wheat per year, and currently produces 4.5 million while importing 1.5 million to meet its needs.