More than 14 million people in Afghanistan -- one-third of the country's population -- are experiencing serious food insecurity, the United Nations' World Food Programme (WFP) has warned, with huge sums of additional funding needed to address these challenges as many young children remain gravely at risk of malnutrition.
John Aylieff, the WFP's country director for Afghanistan, stated that 12 of the 34 Afghan provinces have now reached critical levels of acute child malnutrition, the highest number ever recorded, with 80 percent of the worst cases being children under two years of age.
Aylief noted the regional situation has exacerbated the crisis in recent years, with rising unemployment and soaring food costs leaving many people helpless, while the WFP is struggling to provide adequate support.
"In the past three years, close to six million Afghans have been forcibly expelled from neighboring countries. There are simply not enough jobs to sustain them. Conflict with Pakistan and the Middle East crisis have created trade disruptions, which have pushed up the prices of staple foods by 20 to 30 percent. The poor are being priced out of the market. And at present, close to 14 million Afghans are acutely hungry. In the past few months, crippled by funding cuts, the WFP has been able to feed only one in nine of them," he said.
"This is actually a story of how conflict, trade disruptions and forced returns from neighboring countries are driving unprecedented levels of acute malnutrition in Afghanistan. It's a story of how dramatic aid cuts mean that millions of acutely malnourished Afghan children are being turned away without assistance at the very moment when their lives are at risk. And it's a story of how too many children are dying in Afghanistan of acute malnutrition today. Deaths which, of course, are fully preventable," said Aylieff.
In partnership with the UN Children's Fund, the WFP runs clinics nationwide in Afghanistan to treat malnourished children aged under five as well as pregnant and breastfeeding mothers.
However, a severe funding shortfall has forced the agency to scale back food aid to only the most critical cases. The provision of specialized nutritious foods to prevent malnutrition and stunting ceased entirely in May 2025.
Aylieff stressed there is a pressing need for a significant injection of funding to face the upcoming winter months.
"Our program covering the malnutrition crisis and the general feeding is valued at about 900 million U.S. dollars this year. We have not met needs in the first six months because we didn't have money. And when you look at the next six-month window, this critical window, not just because of the current crisis, but also in the run up to winter, which is the flashpoint, the real flashpoint of hunger, WFP still needs 500 million U.S. dollars to address acute food needs in the country," he said.
One-third of Afghan population struggling with severe food insecurity: WFP
