More than half of the Afghan population will face extreme famine from November. The latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report says 22.8 million Afghans will be acutely food insecure by November. This is the highest number ever recorded in 10 years of analysis.

Afghanistan is now one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. Half of all children under five – around 3.2 million – are expected to be acutely malnourished by the end of the year. One million children are at risk of dying without immediate life-saving treatment. Winters in Afghanistan are harsh, with supply chain routes hampered by icy roads and avalanches. This winter, as food stocks are expected to run out, millions of families will be forced to choose between migration and starvation without urgent action.

For the first time, city dwellers experience food insecurity at rates similar to rural communities, marking the changing face of hunger in the country.

Endemic unemployment and the liquidity crunch mean that almost all major urban centers are expected to face emergency food insecurity levels (IPC Phase 4), including many formerly middle-class families.

Families forced to flee

The intensification of conflict between January and September 2021 has already driven more than 677,000 people from their homes, disrupting their lives and livelihoods. This is in addition to the more than 3 million internally displaced people at the start of the year.

If food does not arrive on time, families may be forced to collect it, and there could be a much larger influx of refugees than seen to date.

A tsunami of misery

This food crisis is fueled by a spiraling economic crisis after years of conflict, drought and the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.

In rural areas, a second drought in just three years is seriously affecting the livelihoods of 7.3 million people who depend on agriculture and herding for survival.

Rising food prices

Food prices have risen steadily over the past few years and have now skyrocketed due to the economic crisis, with most major staples having seen sharp increases in recent months, recent observers say. of the WFP market.

This makes food even more out of reach for millions of cash-strapped Afghans.

WFP is rising to the challenge.

Unprecedented scale-up is underway to meet growing needs.

In the first ten months of this year alone, WFP reached nearly 11 million beneficiaries. *

In the 34 provinces

WFP trucks remain on the road, stretching from the bustling urban center of Kabul to the mountainous regions of Badakhshan. As winter approaches, WFP drivers will continue to brave the rugged terrain and snow to bring food to those in need.

Allow a broader humanitarian response

The United Nations Humanitarian Service (UNHAS) continues to support 160 humanitarian organizations across the country.

These flights connect aid workers between Kabul, Bamyan, Herat, Kandahar, Kunduz, Maymana and Mazar, and carry relief supplies and aid workers from outside the country.

But time is running out. The current level of funding is a drop in the bucket, given the scale of the needs.

To avoid the worst-case scenario, resources will have to be mobilized at unprecedented levels.

Despite the difficult context, WFP plans to continue increasing its humanitarian assistance by 2022 to feed nearly 23 million people.

To get the job done, WFP estimates it might need $ 220 million per month. This can only be done with the solidarity of the international community.

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