The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has announced that an estimated 17.4 million people in Afghanistan are expected to face acute hunger during the winter season.
In a report released the organization said that food assistance in Afghanistan is limited and currently reaches only 2.7 percent of the country’s population.
The FAO further emphasized that the food security situation in Afghanistan is deteriorating with the onset of winter.
According to the organization, economic difficulties have been exacerbated by the return of migrants, ongoing drought, and recent earthquakes.
The United Nations stated that, based on this report, an estimated 17.4 million people — including women, children, and men — will face acute hunger during the winter.
The report notes: “Prolonged economic weakening, recurring droughts, and a sharp decline in humanitarian assistance have left large segments of the population unable to meet their minimum food needs.”
Previously, the World Food Programme (WFP) had said that due to funding shortfalls, it has been forced to reduce its assistance in Afghanistan from 10 million people in need to just two million.
It should be noted that earthquakes, widespread drought, reduced food production, and the forced return of migrants from neighboring countries have further worsened people’s living conditions.
According to United Nations statistics, 3.5 million children in Afghanistan are suffering from malnutrition. Children and women are the most vulnerable groups in Afghanistan’s humanitarian crisis, and with the reduction of humanitarian aid, their situation is expected to worsen.
Meanwhile, the aid organization World Vision recently announced that Afghanistan ranks fourth worldwide in terms of acute child malnutrition.
The organization said that about 3.7 million children under the age of five in Afghanistan suffer from acute malnutrition, around one million of whom are severely underweight. In addition, approximately 1.2 million pregnant and breastfeeding women in Afghanistan are also suffering from acute malnutrition.
According to a report by OCHA, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, women and children have been the most affected by the hunger crisis in Afghanistan.
