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“The World Cannot Turn Its Back as the Afghan People Starve.” WFP in a Race Against Time to Stave off a Hunger Catastrophe.

ROME/KABUL – More than half the population of Afghanistan – a record 22.8 million people – will face acute food insecurity from November, according to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report issued today by the Food Security and Agriculture Cluster of Afghanistan, co-led by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP).

The combined impacts of drought, conflict, COVID-19 and the economic crisis have severely affected lives, livelihoods and people’s access to food. The report’s findings come as Afghanistan’s harsh winter looms, threatening to cut off areas of the country where families desperately depend on humanitarian assistance to survive the freezing winter months.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report has found that more than one in two Afghans will be facing crisis (IPC Phase 3) or emergency (IPC Phase 4) levels of acute food insecurity through the November 2021 to March 2022 lean season, requiring urgent humanitarian interventions to meet basic food needs, protect livelihoods and prevent a humanitarian catastrophe.

The report also notes that this is the highest number of acutely food insecure people ever recorded in the ten years the UN has been conducting IPC analyses in Afghanistan. Globally, Afghanistan is home to one of the largest number of people in acute food insecurity in both absolute and relative terms

“It is urgent that we act efficiently and effectively to speed up and scale up our delivery in Afghanistan before winter cuts off a large part of the country, with millions of people – including farmers, women, young children and the elderly – going hungry in the freezing winter. It is a matter of life or death. We cannot wait and see humanitarian disasters unfolding in front of us – it is unacceptable!” said QU Dongyu, FAO Director-General.

“Afghanistan is now among the world’s worst humanitarian crises – if not the worst – and food security has all but collapsed. This winter, millions of Afghans will be forced to choose between migration and starvation unless we can step up our lifesaving assistance, and unless the economy can be resuscitated. We are on a countdown to catastrophe and if we don’t act now, we will have a total disaster on our hands,” said David Beasley, U.N. World Food Programme Executive Director.

“Hunger is rising and children are dying. We can’t feed people on promises – funding commitments must turn into hard cash, and the international community must come together to address this crisis, which is fast spinning out of control,” Beasley warned.

Hunger Spreads From Rural to Urban Areas

The IPC report reflects a 37 percent increase in the number of Afghans facing acute hunger since the last assessment issued in April 2021. Among those at risk are 3.2 million children under 5 who are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition by the end of the year. In October, the U.N. World Food Programme and UNICEF warned that 1 million children were at risk of dying from severe acute malnutrition without immediate lifesaving treatment.

For the first time, urban residents are suffering from food insecurity at similar rates to rural communities, marking the shifting face of hunger in the country. Rampant unemployment and the liquidity crisis mean that all major urban centers are projected to face Emergency (IPC Phase 4) levels of food insecurity, including formerly middle-class populations.

In rural areas, the severe impact of the second drought in four years continues to impact the livelihoods of 7.3 million people who rely on agriculture and livestock to survive.

Current Funding a Drop in the Ocean

FAO and the U.N. World Food Programme have been alerting the world to huge funding shortfalls and the need for urgent action by the international community before it is too late. Immediate financial support is now crucial to meet the most basic humanitarian needs as Afghans confront winter with no jobs, cash, or prospects, just as another La Niña event is on the horizon meaning this year’s drought conditions are likely to extend into 2022.

To meet the scale of needs, the UN will need to mobilize resources at unprecedented levels. The UN’s Humanitarian Response Plan remains only a third funded. The U.N. World Food Programme in planning to ramp up its humanitarian assistance as we enter 2022 to meet the food and nutrition needs of almost 23 million people in Afghanistan. To meet the task at hand the U.N. World Food Programme may require as much as $220 million per month.

Since the beginning of 2021, the U.N. World Food Programme has provided food, cash and nutrition assistance to 10.3 million people, including malnutrition treatment and prevention programs for nearly 400,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women, and 790,000 children under 5.

FAO continues to deliver vital emergency livelihood interventions at scale in Afghanistan, providing lifesaving support and cash assistance to farmers and livestock owning households who comprise 70 percent of the total population, so they can remain productive. More than 3.5 million people will be supported this year, with FAO reaching over more than 330,000 in August and September alone.

Amid worsening drought, FAO is seeking $11.4 million in urgent funding for its humanitarian response and is seeking a further $200 million for the agricultural season into 2022. FAO is now distributing wheat cultivation packages, including high quality and locally-supplied seeds, fertilizers and training. This campaign is expected to benefit 1.3 million people across 27 out of 34 provinces of the country in the coming weeks.

Note to editors:

IPC Report brief can be accessed here & IPC Snapshot here.

Broadcast quality footage available here.

Photos available here.

The United Nations World Food Programme is the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. We are the world’s largest humanitarian organization, saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations. FAO supports the transformation to more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agri-food systems for better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life, leaving no-one behind. That includes addressing acute levels of food insecurity, providing agricultural and pastoralist communities with support so they can continue to produce food, earn income, and save their livelihoods.

Kabul – Wrapping up a two-day visit to Herat, UNICEF Representative in Afghanistan, Hervé Ludovic De Lys, and United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) Afghanistan Representative and Country Director, Mary-Ellen McGroarty, sounded the alarm on the dire state of malnutrition and food insecurity sweeping across the country. Without reliable access to water, food and basic health and nutrition services, Afghan children and their families are bearing the brunt of years of conflict and the current economic crisis.

14 million people in Afghanistan are facing acute food insecurity, and an estimated 3.2 million children under the age of 5 expected to suffer from acute malnutrition by the end of the year. At least 1 million of these children are at risk of dying due to severe acute malnutrition without immediate treatment.

De Lys and McGroarty spoke with Jahan Bibi, whose 18-month-old daughter is being treated for severe acute malnutrition at the Herat Regional hospital. She brought her daughter to the hospital as she could no longer breastfeed her baby. “We have no food at home. We are selling everything to buy food, yet I barely eat anything. I am weak and I don’t have any milk for my child.”

With winter fast approaching, it is now a race against time to assist Afghan families also lacking access to safe water and health and nutrition services.

“As more families struggle to put food on the table, the nutritional health of mothers and their children is getting worse by the day,” said Hervé Ludovic De Lys, UNICEF Representative in Afghanistan. “Children are getting sicker and their families are less and less able to get them the treatment they need. Rapidly spreading outbreaks of measles and acute watery diarrhoea will only exacerbate the situation.”

According to U.N. World Food Programme surveys 95 percent of households in Afghanistan are not consuming enough food, adults are eating less and skipping meals so their children can eat more.

“We have huge concerns about the desperate choices families are being forced to take,” said Mary-Ellen McGroarty, the U.N. World Food Programme Afghanistan’s Representative and Country Director. “Unless we intervene now, malnutrition will only become more severe. The international community must release the funds they pledged weeks ago, or the impact could be irreversible.”

McGroarty and De Lys also visited a food distribution center in Herat city where they met with families struggling to make ends meet amidst drought and lack of jobs. They also visited a settlement for internally displaced families where mobile health and nutrition teams are providing lifesaving services to women and children, supported by UNICEF and WFP.

The two UN agencies are adding 100 more mobile health and nutrition teams. Already 168 mobile teams are providing a lifeline for children and mothers in hard-to-reach areas.

Since the beginning of 2021, the U.N. World Food Programme has provided lifesaving food and nutrition assistance to 8.7 million people, including treatment and prevention of malnutrition for nearly 400,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women and 790,000 children under 5. Close to 4 million people were reached in September alone. Additionally, this year, more than 210,000 children with severe acute malnutrition were provided with lifesaving treatment through UNICEF-supported services. Ready-to-use therapeutic food for more than 42,000 children and therapeutic milk for 5,200 children was also delivered to UNICEF partners in the past eight weeks.

KABUL – Job losses, lack of cash and soaring prices are creating a new class of hungry in Afghanistan, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has warned today. For the first time, urban residents are suffering from hunger at similar rates to rural communities, which have been ravaged by drought twice in the past three years.

Only five percent of households in Afghanistan have enough to eat every day, according to recent surveys conducted by the U.N. World Food Programme, while half reported they had run out of food altogether at least once in the past two weeks.

“The economic freefall in Afghanistan has been abrupt and unrelenting, adding to an already difficult situation, as the country grapples with a second severe drought in three years. We are doing everything we can to support Afghan communities at this critical time,” said Mary-Ellen McGroarty, U.N. World Food Programme’s Country Director and Representative.

The middle classes are also struggling – only 10 percent of households headed by someone with a secondary or university education were able to buy sufficient food for their families every day. Though the situation is worse for those less well-educated, the unprecedented prevalence of hunger among families that had previously been spared the scourge of hunger signals the depth of the crisis facing Afghans.

On average, breadwinners are finding work just one day a week, barely enough to afford food that is rapidly increasing in price. Cooking oil, for example, has almost doubled in price since 2020, and wheat is up by 28 percent.

Afghanistan is on the brink of economic collapse, caused by a rapid withdrawal of international aid, combined with the inability to access overseas assets. In turn, this is fueling a cash crisis, a sharp drop in the value of the local currency and has led to a sudden halt in foreign investment, driving more families into hunger as jobs and income dry up.

“The U.N. World Food Programme is stepping up to the urgent challenge which is now twofold. First, we continue to assist the people who need it most to avoid acute hunger and malnutrition from devastating the country and second, we are strengthening local capacity to produce food and get it to market, while also providing short-term work opportunities that help stabilize the economy and give families access to cash,” McGroarty added.

The U.N. World Food Programme has provided 6.4 million people with food assistance this year, including more than 1.4 million people since the Taliban takeover on August 15. The U.N. World Food Programme runs programs designed to both address the immediate needs of people facing emergencies, while also building community resilience so they are better able to cope in times of crisis.

The U.N. World Food Programme works with communities to strengthen their ability to reduce the risk of disasters and adapt to climate change, while also creating employment opportunities to provide much-needed cash in desperate times. This includes constructing or rehabilitating roads, canals, flood protection walls and reforestation, as well as vocational training.

Throughout the difficult weeks in August and September, the U.N. World Food Programme has continued school feeding programs, helping to keep boys and girls in school and staving off malnutrition, while bolstering the local economy when food is produced and purchased locally, and creating stable markets, supporting local agriculture, and strengthening local food systems.

“The U.N. World Food Programme is racing against the clock to provide lifesaving food and nutrition assistance to the most vulnerable Afghan families. We urgently need $200 million to buy and preposition food before the winter sets in – if we miss this window the consequences will be catastrophic,” warned McGroarty.

Note to editors:

The survey is based on data collected via telephone surveys among more than 1,600 households across 34 provinces between August 21 – September 16.
14 million people are facing acute food insecurity including 2 million children who are at risk of malnutrition. Emergency levels of acute malnutrition are present in 27 of 34 provinces.

Photos available here.

Broadcast quality footage available here.

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The United Nations World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization, saving lives in emergencies, building prosperity and supporting a sustainable future for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

KABUL – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP)-led United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) has resumed flights to Kabul, enabling humanitarian responders and much-needed relief items to reach desperate Afghans in multiple locations across the country.

With over 90 percent of families struggling to eat enough, and a growing humanitarian crisis across the country, aid agencies are scrambling to meet massive needs before it is too late, with the approaching winter likely to cut off parts of the country entirely, leaving millions of vulnerable Afghans with little to survive on.

UNHAS flights – which are led by the U.N. World Food Programme, have been up and running since August 29, connecting Islamabad, Pakistan to the Afghan towns of Mazar-i-Sharif, Kandahar and Herat. The air link to Kabul restarted on September 12 after a temporary halt following Taliban takeover on August 15. UNHAS is also transporting non-food items, such as medical and other emergency supplies. Three cargo flights have been completed, bringing in medical supplies on behalf of WHO.

“The restarting of flights into Kabul marks a turning point,” said Mary-Ellen McGroarty, U.N. World Food Programme Afghanistan Country Director. “Getting aid workers and relief cargo into and around Afghanistan is vital if we have any hope of preventing a total catastrophe.”

However, $30 million is required from donors to keep the vital air services going – this on top of the $200 million U.N. World Food Programme urgently requires replenishing its food pipeline and transport supplies into the country before the winter sets in.

Through its six field offices across the country, the U.N. World Food Programme has been stepping up its operations. Food convoys are moving across the country and in August alone more than 400,000 people received assistance. However, to avert a humanitarian catastrophe, much more is needed. The U.N. World Food Programme needs to reach nine million people a month by November if it is to meet its planned target of 14 million by the end of 2021.

Since the beginning of 2021, the U.N. World Food Programme has assisted more than 6.4 million people, including 470,000 internally displaced people.
Among those reached are 170,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women and 750,000 young children who need treatment of malnutrition or risk becoming malnourished.
The U.N. World Food Programme will continue to deliver nutrition assistance, expanding mobile health clinics to address challenges to women and children in accessing static clinics. The U.N. World Food Programme has deployed an additional 34 mobile health teams since the beginning of August, making a total of 117 teams.
From August 15 to September 7, the U.N. World Food Programme provided food and nutrition assistance to nearly 600,000 people, including 13,500 children under the school meals program, and 105,000 mothers and young children.
During the same period, the U.N. World Food Programme brought an additional 29 trucks and 850 MT of food into the country, including 254 MT of Lipid-based Nutrient Supplements (LNS) for the prevention and treatment of malnutrition.
In anticipation of the high food needs and further disruptions to supply chains, the U.N. World Food Programme is positioning food and other stocks at strategic border points in Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. A logistics hub of 5,000 square meters space is being established in Termez, Uzbekistan.

Note to editors:

Broadcast quality footage available here.

Photos available here.

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The United Nations World Food Programme is the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.  We are the world’s largest humanitarian organization, saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.
Follow us on Twitter @WFPUSA, @wfp_media and @wfp_AsiaPacific

By Barron Segar

As I’ve watched and read reports from Afghanistan this week, one thought stuck with me: the tide of hunger looming in the wake of this conflict.

We know we must stave off hunger to prevent the nation from further unraveling. One in three people in Afghanistan already faces the vicious effects of hunger as back-to-back droughts have devastated the country’s crops. What’s more, the conflict has displaced thousands of people from their homes all while the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic carry on.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has been in Afghanistan for more than 60 years, and it will continue to provide unconditional food assistance to vulnerable groups despite the recent turmoil. Already in the first six months of this year, we delivered food and nutrition assistance to 5.5 million people, including those newly displaced by fighting. In the face of immense security and logistics challenges, the U.N. World Food Programme maintains access to most of the country, including areas experiencing active fighting, and is committed to staying and delivering food.

Through our commitment to Afghanistan, we will do everything we can to reach vulnerable families in their time of great need. But we can’t do it without the support of donors. Please join us as we work to feed millions of vulnerable people.

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The United Nations World Food Programme is the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and the world’s largest humanitarian organization, saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

World Food Program USA, a 501©(3) organization based in Washington, DC, proudly supports the mission of the United Nations World Food Programme by mobilizing American policymakers, businesses and individuals to advance the global movement to end hunger. Our leadership and support help to bolster an enduring American legacy of feeding families in need around the world. To learn more about World Food Program USA’s mission, please visit wfpusa.org/about-us.

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