The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that Afghanistan’s food crisis is worsening sharply, with millions at risk as funding shortages prevent large-scale humanitarian assistance for the first time in decades.
Aid Capacity Severely Reduced
According to the WFP, the agency is currently unable to mount a meaningful winter response, even as malnutrition reaches its highest levels in years. The shortfall in funding means emergency food and nutrition programmes cannot be expanded nationwide at a time when needs are rising.
The agency estimates it requires more than $460 million to provide food assistance to six million of the most vulnerable Afghans, but has secured only 12% of that amount so far.
Rising Hunger and Child Malnutrition
An estimated 17 million people in Afghanistan are now facing hunger—around three million more than last year. The increase is partly driven by the return of large numbers of Afghans deported from Iran and Pakistan, where authorities have stepped up efforts to send back undocumented migrants and refugees.
WFP officials say Afghanistan lacks the infrastructure and resources to absorb the sudden influx, further straining already fragile food systems.
Child malnutrition is of particular concern. The WFP reports that 3.7 million children are acutely malnourished, including one million suffering from severe acute malnutrition, the most life-threatening form. With winter temperatures dropping and food supplies shrinking, deaths among children are expected to rise.
Multiple Crises Compounding the Situation
International aid to Afghanistan has declined steeply since 2021, when U.S.-led forces withdrew and the Taliban returned to power, prompting many donors to scale back funding. The humanitarian situation has been further aggravated by earthquakes and other natural disasters, which have displaced communities and damaged livelihoods.
“With child malnutrition already at its highest level in decades, and unprecedented reductions in international funding for essential services, access to treatment is increasingly scarce,” the WFP said in a statement.
Urgent Appeal
Jean-Martin Bauer, WFP Director of Food Security and Nutrition Analysis, told reporters in Geneva that the funding gap is directly costing lives. “We are only 12% funded. This is a major obstacle,” he said. “So yes, children are dying.”
Humanitarian agencies are urging donors to urgently scale up support to prevent further loss of life during Afghanistan’s harsh winter months, warning that without swift action, the crisis could deepen into a widespread humanitarian catastrophe.
