00:00It's hard to believe that Afghanistan, a country with 50 years of wars and poverty, could build a mega-project.
00:06Even though they're poor, their government started building a massive artificial river in northern Afghanistan.
00:12They're paying for this project from the nation's budget, without help from other countries.
00:17This artificial river is called the Kosh Tepe Canal, and when it is completed, it will be one of the
00:22longest water canals in the entire world.
00:24But what is the point of the Kosh Tepe Canal? How will they get the money for it?
00:29Will it work or turn into a colossal disaster?
00:33The canal is expected to be really long, about 285 kilometers and 152 meters wide.
00:40It starts from a river called Amu Daria in a place called Balkh province, and goes through places like Jiaozian
00:47and Faryab provinces.
00:49The main goal of this project is to combat drought caused by global warming.
00:55They also want to add more water to underground reserves, and create new farming systems that will help thousands of
01:01people suffering from hunger.
01:04Currently, Afghanistan depends on assistance from other countries, because they cannot produce enough food on their own.
01:10About 20 million people do not have enough food, and 6 million of them are very close to starvation.
01:15To fix the country's hunger, they want to turn about 55,000 hectares of land into farms, focusing on growing
01:22things like cereals and wheat.
01:24In fact, Afghanistan does not only want to solve the problem of hunger, but even sell grain to other countries
01:30until 2028.
01:32The construction started in 2022, and building the canal is split into three stages.
01:38The first two stages will dig the canal, and the third stage will add the irrigation system and other things.
01:44In the first stage of construction, they removed about 1 million cubic meters of soil every day.
01:50This is impressive because the machines they used were old, and at the same time, they also planted lots of
01:55trees by the canal to make the soil strong and stop erosion.
01:59They even planted crops in a 20-kilometer area to see how well the soil and irrigation system work.
02:05The way they've picked the location for the canal is smart.
02:08It goes through places where the soil is good for growing things, and it's close to towns and villages.
02:14This means the water from the canal can be used to water the plants in the areas that really need
02:18it.
02:18Building something this big is very difficult and requires a lot of workers, but even though they had no outside
02:24help, they were very determined to make it work.
02:27Some people criticized the Kosh Tepe Canal, saying it was built quickly with bad technology.
02:33But the Afghan government's data shows that everything was done really carefully, following all the rules for building.
02:39However, the canal doesn't have a floor or walls made of concrete.
02:43If they had used concrete, it would have cost a lot more money, which Afghanistan doesn't have.
02:49Another problem that experts worry is that the canal might make the soil too salty, not just in Afghanistan, but
02:55also in nearby areas.
02:56The canal goes over or close to flat areas and places where water flows in a certain way.
03:02This could change how water moves below the ground to the AMU Daria River, leading to more water and salt
03:08in the soil.
03:09Certain lands may not only become salty, but may also become too wet, so they cannot be used for agriculture.
03:16This phenomenon has also happened near the Karakam Canal in Turkmenistan.
03:21Although there are ways to stop this, such as installing special systems on the channel, these ideas are not discussed
03:28in the Kosh Tepe Channel yet.
03:29Since there's not much electricity near the canal, more and more solar panels are being used to make electricity.
03:36And there are also other things being built, like bridges and important buildings.
03:41People who live close to the canal are doing better economically.
03:44Many people have jobs, old farms are made better, and roads are improved.
03:49Even though there are some reports saying things are not going well, everyone who works on the project is paid
03:55well and on time.
03:56The money for this all comes from the government's taxes.
03:59At first calculation, the costs for this project were supposed to cost about $500 million, but now they think they'll
04:06need $100 million more.
04:08Even though the project was supposed to be finished by 2028, it might actually be done sooner, maybe by 2025.
04:16Definitely, this project will bring big changes to Afghanistan, solving water and agriculture problems.
04:22Such projects could help the country recover from long wars and become a positive part of the world.
04:28What do you think will happen to this project?
04:30Share your opinion in the comments.
05:01Share your opinion in the comments.
