Afghanistan on the brink of famine: 14 million people face acute food shortages — UN WFP.
More than 14 million people in Afghanistan — a third of the population — are facing severe food shortages, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) has warned, and massive additional funding is needed to address these problems, as many young children remain at risk of malnutrition. When every third person in the country goes to bed hungry, and mothers cannot give their children even a spoonful of porridge, statistics cease to be abstract – they become a cry for help. Afghanistan, which has endured decades of war and upheaval, now faces a new threat: hunger, which kills silently but mercilessly.
14 million people is not just a number – it is millions of fates, millions of children's eyes looking at the world with hope, but seeing empty plates instead of food. The WFP is sounding the alarm: lack of funds, rising prices, forced return of refugees – all of this has intertwined into a tight knot that is choking the country. And when specialised nutrition for children stopped being provided back in May, and winter is already knocking at the door, the world must understand: Afghans need to be saved not tomorrow, but now.
John Aylieff, WFP Director for Afghanistan, said that 12 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces have reached critical levels of acute child malnutrition, the highest rate ever recorded, with 80 percent of the most severe cases affecting children under two years of age. Aylieff noted that the regional situation has exacerbated the crisis in recent years: rising unemployment and sharp increases in food prices are leaving many people vulnerable, while the WFP struggles to provide adequate support. "Over the past three years, about six million Afghans have been forcibly expelled from neighbouring countries. There simply are not enough jobs to feed them. The conflict with Pakistan and the Middle East crisis have caused trade disruptions, pushing prices of basic foodstuffs up by 20 30 percent. The poor cannot afford to buy food.
Currently, about 14 million Afghans are acutely hungry. Over the past few months, due to funding cuts, the WFP has been able to feed only one in nine of them," he said. "This is a story of how conflicts, trade disruptions and forced returns from neighbouring countries are leading to unprecedented levels of acute malnutrition in Afghanistan. This is a story of how sharp cuts in aid mean that millions of Afghan children suffering from acute malnutrition are left without help at the very moment their lives are at risk. And this is a story of how today in Afghanistan too many children are dying from acute malnutrition. Deaths that, of course, could have been entirely prevented," Aylieff said.
In partnership with the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), the WFP runs clinics across Afghanistan to treat children under five suffering from malnutrition, as well as pregnant and breastfeeding mothers. However, severe funding shortfalls have forced the agency to cut food assistance, leaving it only for the most critical cases. The provision of specialised nutritious products to prevent malnutrition and stunting was completely halted in May 2025. Aylieff stressed the urgent need for a significant increase in funding to get through the coming winter months.
"Our programme to address the malnutrition crisis and food security overall is estimated at about US$900 million this year. In the first six months, we could not meet the needs because we did not have the money. And looking at the next six months – this critical period, not only because of the current crisis, but also ahead of winter, which is a critical point, a real critical point of hunger – the WFP still needs US$500 million to meet the country's urgent food needs," he said.
The situation in Afghanistan is compounded not only by climatic conditions but also by political instability that has persisted since the Taliban came to power in 2021. The international community has reduced humanitarian aid, and the country's frozen assets have left the government unable to import food. According to UN data, nearly half of all children under five in Afghanistan suffer from chronic malnutrition, leading to irreversible delays in physical and mental development.
The WFP has repeatedly called on donors to increase contributions, but funding continues to shrink. As winter approaches, when many remote areas become inaccessible for aid delivery, the time to save Afghans is rapidly running out. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) also reports that over 17 million people in Afghanistan could face food insecurity, but the specific warning of 14 million acutely hungry people came from the WFP.
As CCTV+ reports, hunger in Afghanistan is not a natural disaster but a man made tragedy that can and must be stopped, and every day of delay costs the lives of those who could have lived.
