From a series of photographs taken in Badghis province, in June this year, two months before the Taliban swept to power. Many of the difficulties facing Afghans that have come to the world's attention in recent months existed before the Taliban took control of Afghanistan. Badghis, in the country's northwest, was, and is still, at the centre of a drought crisis, for the second time in four years. 1. When viewed from the sky, the landscape surrounding Badghis' capital, Qala-i Naw, can, to the untrained eye, even when covered in healthy wheat fields, because it blends with the baron earth, suggest drought even during a good season. This year, the barren appearance is not just a facade. Poor rainfall, on which Badghis farmers rely for their rain-fed (as opposed to irrigated) crops is resulting in dismal yields, part of which the same farmers rely to feed their families for the coming year and part to sell in order to purchase other necessities. 2. Three-year-old Malalai, who was recently sold into marriage by her uncle, Baram Jan, 62, at left, who cares for her and her four siblings after their father died of natural causes. Baram Jan sold Malalai into marriage for 400,000 Afghani (Approximately USD5,000). He says that while selling girls into marriage is normal in his Pashtun culture that the financial stress caused by the drought forced him to take the step earlier than normal. 3. Wakil Ahmad, 18, in a camp for people displaced mostly by drought in Zanjitak, where 300-400 families populate private land. Wakil Ahmad left his home in Muqur district because of both drought and increasing insecurity in 2018. Four months ago, he stepped on an improvised explosive device, most likely laid by the Taliban, in a frontline area while collecting animal feed. Wakil Ahmad lost both his legs and has a severely injured right arm. He received treatment in Herat City but his family could not afford to pay for the procedure to have stabilising steel pins removed from his arm. (A wonderful local journalist with whom I worked subsequently found a local doctor who performed the procedure free of charge). Photos: @andrewquilty / @vu_photo / @actioncontrelafaim. June, 2021.