Millions facing acute food insecurity in Afghanistan as winter looms, UN warns

More than 17 million people in Afghanistan are facing crisis levels of hunger in the coming winter months, the leading international authority on hunger crises and the UN food aid agency warned.

The number at risk is some 3 million more than a year ago.

Economic woes, recurrent drought, shrinking international aid and and influx of Afghans returning home from countries like neighboring Iran and Pakistan have strained resources and added to the pressures on food security, reports the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, known as IPC, which tracks hunger crises.

"What the IPC tells us is that more than 17 million people in Afghanistan are facing acute food insecurity. That is 3 million more than last year,” said Jean-Martin Bauer, director of food security at the UN's World Food Program, told reporters in Geneva.

"There are almost 4 million children in a situation of acute malnutrition,” he said by video from Rome. "About 1 million are severely acutely malnourished, and those are children who actually require hospital treatment.”

An Afghan vendor selling balloons waits for customers along a road in Kabul. AFP

Food assistance in Afghanistan is reaching only 2.7% of the population, the IPC report says - exacerbated by a weak economy, high unemployment and lower inflows of remittances from abroad - as more than 2.5 million people returned from Iran and Pakistan this year.

More than 17 million people, or more than one-third of the population, are set to face crisis levels of food insecurity in the four-month period through to March 2026, the report said. Of those, 4.7 million could face emergency levels of food insecurity.

An improvement is expected by the spring harvest season starting in April, IPC projected.

A man carries food packets that he received at a World Food Programme distribution site in Wakhan district in Badakhshan province. Reuters

The UN last week warned of a "severe” and "precarious” crisis in the country as Afghanistan enters its first winter in years without US foreign assistance and almost no international food distribution.

Tom Fletcher, the UN humanitarian chief, told the Security Council on Wednesday that the situation has been exacerbated by "overlapping shocks,” including recent deadly earthquakes, and the growing restrictions on humanitarian aid access and staff.

While Fletcher said nearly 22 million Afghans will need UN assistance in 2026, his organization will focus on 3.9 million facing the most urgent need of lifesaving help in light of the reduced donor contributions.

Associated Press