Afghanistan hunger crisis deepens as 17 million face acute food insecurity

Over 17 million Afghans are facing acute food insecurity this winter as hunger and malnutrition get worse, according to the World Food Programme (WFP). The latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report shows three million more people are going hungry compared to the 14.8 million last year. Child malnutrition is expected to rise, affecting nearly four million children in the coming year.

Afghanistan is heading into a harsh winter as multiple crises hit at once. Drought has struck half the country and wiped out crops. Job losses and a weak economy have destroyed incomes. Recent earthquakes have left families homeless. Forced returns from Pakistan and Iran are making the situation worse, with 2.5 million Afghans sent back since the beginning of the year, many arriving malnourished and with nothing.

“WFP has been warning for months about the clear signs of a deepening humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, and the latest data confirms our worst fears,” said John Aylieff, WFP Country Director in Afghanistan. “Our teams are seeing families skipping meals for days on end and taking extreme measures to survive. Child deaths are rising, and they risk becoming worse in the months ahead.”

Child malnutrition is already at its highest level in decades, and funding cuts for agencies providing treatment mean access to care is increasingly hard to find. Without treatment, malnutrition in children is deadly, and child deaths will likely climb during the harsh winter months when food is scarcest.

Humanitarian aid for Afghanistan is shrinking just as the crisis deepens, leaving millions without the support that has kept severe hunger and malnutrition in check. For the first time in decades, WFP cannot launch a major winter response while also ramping up emergency and nutrition support nationwide.

WFP needs $468 million to deliver life-saving food to six million of Afghanistan’s most vulnerable people and help them survive the winter.

“We need to bring Afghanistan’s crisis back into the headlines to give the most vulnerable Afghans the attention they deserve,” Aylieff added. “We must stand with the people of Afghanistan who depend on critical support to survive.”