War, Weather & Hunger In Afghanistan
An engaged government, rich natural resources and a young and diverse population: Afghanistan has immense potential. But decades of conflict, climate shocks, gender inequality, rapid urbanization and underemployment are holding the country back – and keeping people hungry. Now, the COVID-19 pandemic is hitting the most vulnerable Afghan communities hardest.
Afghanis are food insecure
of the country lives in poverty
of children under 5 are stunted
A Dangerous Uphill Battle
Coronavirus
Millions face acute food insecurity in the face of COVID-19. The pandemic is particularly hard on the more than one in four Afghans who rely on day labour and low-income jobs to live. Lockdowns and other measures to stop the spread of the virus threaten to push vulnerable communities deeper into despair. WFP is working to get help to as many Afghans as possible.
Photo: WFP/Jorge Diaz
Hunger
One third of Afghanis are food insecure, and that insecurity is rising sharply. Undernutrition is a big concern for women, children, displaced people, returnees, households headed by women, people with disabilities and the poor.
Photo: WFP/Eoin Casey
Conflict
For decades, Afghans have lived through foreign intervention, civil war, insurgency and widespread insecurity. This has destroyed the country’s economic growth, limiting opportunities and making poverty worse.
Photo: WFP/Teresa Ha
Drought
A massive drought in 2018 – the worst in a decade – wreaked havoc on most of the country. It displaced thousands, kept farmers from growing crops and forced people to sell precious animals.
Photo: WFP/Silke Buhr
The Larger Climate
Every year, a quarter million Afghanis are affected by floods, droughts, avalanches, landslides and earthquakes. Weather events become more and more unpredictable - and severe - each year.
Photo: WFP/Sven Thelin
A Young Population
More than two-thirds of Afghanis are under the age of 25. Conflict, corruption and illegal industry put their futures at risk – especially in rural areas.
Photo: WFP/Wahidullah Amani
One of the greatest threats to kids in Afghanistan is hunger. With your support, WFP helps young people across the country.
feed the littlest
Most Afghanis suffering from malnutrition are children under the age of five. This little girl is being fed at a WFP supported clinic in southern Kandahar.
help them grow
Chronic malnutrition causes stunted growth in young children. With your help, WFP can get these kids the food they need, before it’s too late.
keep them safe
Despite WFP’s work to increase food aid in Afghanistan, kids still bear the brunt of the country’s nutritional crisis. Extreme weather and ongoing fighting also put children at risk of abuse and exploitation.
Helping Afghanis Face Hunger
WFP has been working in Afghanistan since 1963 – with a special focus on women and girls – helping vulnerable families, schoolchildren, returning refugees, internally displaced people and disabled people. With your help, we provide:
School Meals
WFP gives students rations as an incentive for their families to send them to school, and reaches Afghani women and kids with food baskets, micronutrient tablets and specialized nutritious food.
Food for Training
WFP provides thousands of Afghani people with food while they take classes in literacy and reproductive health, or learn vocational skills like embroidery, carpentry, gardening, plumbing or childcare.
Disaster Reduction
Afghanis can receive WFP food assistance through infrastructure rehabilitation programs. Adults are trained to build roads, canals, flood protection walls and terraces that keep communities safer in each for lifesaving food.
Farmer Support
WFP works with farmers to boost soybean production. WFP has also worked with farmers and the government to build an emergency grain reserve – enough to feed two million people for up to six months.
