Afghanistan hunger crisis intensifies as millions left without food aid

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) reports that 14 million Afghans, including one in three children, now suffer from acute food insecurity, the highest level ever recorded. Conflict, unemployment, rising food prices, and reduced humanitarian funding have deepened the crisis, with six million returnees from Pakistan and Iran straining already fragile systems. WFP Country Director John Aylieff stated that trade disruptions and soaring staple food costs—up 20 to 30 percent—have pushed the poor out of the market, leaving families with little more than weak tea and bread.

Funding cuts have forced WFP to assist only one in nine acutely hungry Afghans, with lifesaving nutrition programs scaled back as needs peak. Child wasting, the deadliest form of malnutrition, has reached critical levels in one-third of provinces, with 80 percent of severe cases involving children under two. NGOs report that many arrive at health centers too late to survive, as shrinking funds mean malnourished children are turned away without aid, leading to preventable deaths.

WFP shared the story of Farida, a mother of three in Kandahar, whose family survives on tea and bread while her children suffer from anaemia and malnutrition. Her six-year-old son cannot attend school, and her baby is fed weak tea due to lack of milk. Farida warned that without WFP’s clinic support, her children would “undoubtedly die.” WFP currently feeds only one in seven acutely malnourished women and children, turning away the rest with no assistance.

WFP’s emergency food and nutrition programs for 2026 require $900 million, but the agency has not met needs in the first half of 2025 due to funding gaps. Aylieff emphasized the urgency of $500 million needed for the next six months, including the winter period, to address acute food needs. Humanitarians warn that deepening hunger risks fueling migration, instability, and broader regional consequences.