UN: Nine Million in Afghanistan Face Severe Food Insecurity
The United Nations warns that more than nine million people in Afghanistan face severe food insecurity, with worsening malnutrition threatening children and vulnerable families nationwide.
The World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that recent earthquakes in Afghanistan have worsened an already dire food security and nutrition crisis across the country.
In its Thursday report, the agency said more than nine million people are facing acute food insecurity, while severe malnutrition among children and mothers has reached record levels.
Eastern Afghanistan, particularly Kunar and Nangarhar provinces, has been hardest hit. These areas were already grappling with critical malnutrition before the quakes, and conditions have now deteriorated further.
The return of Afghan families expelled from Pakistan has added pressure on scarce humanitarian resources, compounding the crisis for both displaced populations and host communities.
So far, WFP has provided emergency food assistance to more than 58,000 people in Kunar, Nangarhar, and Laghman provinces. However, it warned that many remote mountain areas remain cut off due to rough terrain, poor roads, and weak communications.
The agency also stressed that funding shortages are severely limiting its response capacity. Current resources allow aid to reach fewer than one million people per month, with a funding gap of about $622 million for the next six months.
Humanitarian experts caution that unless urgent funds are mobilized, Afghanistan’s most vulnerable populations—especially women and children in quake-affected areas—risk facing catastrophic levels of hunger.
The compounded impact of natural disasters, mass displacement, and chronic poverty highlights Afghanistan’s deep reliance on international support. Without significant new funding, relief efforts will remain far short of the country’s desperate needs.
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