FOUR MILLION AFGHAN CHILDREN SUFFER FOOD SHORTAGE IN BITING WINTER, SAYS UN

By Vijian Paramasivam

PHNOM PENH, Dec 23 (Bernama) -- One in three Afghans urgently needs food, with about four million children and 1.2 million pregnant women experiencing severe shortages as a harsh winter grips the country.

The United Nations (UN)-led World Food Programme (WFP) warns that the current food turmoil can balloon into a hunger catastrophe if aid fails to reach the suffering Afghans on time.

Nearly 17 million people are in urgent need of food assistance this winter.

“Hunger is escalating at an alarming pace across Afghanistan, with both food insecurity and malnutrition expanding in scale and severity. 

“The country remains one of the world’s most severe hunger crises,” Kabul-based WPF Communications Director in Afghanistan, Isheeta Sumra, told Bernama.

Located in the Hindu Kush mountain range, the country experiences long and bitter winters from December to March, where temperatures often plummet below – 20 degrees Celsius

The landlocked country, perched in central-south Asia, with 44 million people, is trapped in a political-economic quagmire after decades of brutal wars that have destroyed basic infrastructure, financial systems, crippling industries and trade. 

The country’s woes are further intensified by natural disasters like major earthquakes and droughts that continue to push villages into deep hardship in remote mountainous regions. 

“By 2026, malnutrition is projected to surge, with nearly four million children and 1.2 million pregnant and breastfeeding women facing acute malnutrition.

“Job losses and a weakened economy have eroded purchasing power, driving food insecurity even deeper. Recent earthquakes in the east and north have compounded humanitarian needs, leaving families without homes or livelihoods,” said Isheeta. 

The 2025 drought – considered the worst in a decade – has devastated over half the country, triggering widespread crop failures, she said.

Afghanistan suffered two major earthquakes this year, firstly a 6.0-magnitude disaster that struck the eastern part of the country in August, killing about 2,000 people, more than 1,000 of them children.

While another measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale devastated northern Afghanistan in November, where nearly 30 people perished.

Afghanistan's Economic Minister Qari Din Muhammad Hanif told Bernama that multiple challenges are contributing to food insecurity despite his government’s efforts to address the pressing issue.  

Climate change, natural disasters, drought, the return of Afghan refugees, the United States (US)’ freezing of Kabul’s foreign exchange reserves, and shrinking humanitarian aid from the international community have exacerbated the internal food crisis, he said.

An estimated 2.6 million Afghan refugees from Pakistan and Iran have returned home this year, while four million have returned from the two neighbouring countries since 2023. 

“Food insecurity is a complex and multidimensional issue, resulting from a combination of natural, economic, political, and social factors. Combating it requires a comprehensive and multidimensional approach that requires the support of the international community by addressing immediate needs,” he said.

The WFP is raising concerns that it may not be able to provide adequate support to millions of suffering Afghans following funding cuts for international agencies to provide essential services on the ground. 

“As needs intensify, humanitarian aid is shrinking. WFP has already been forced to reduce the number of people it serves – cutting off what, for many, was a lifeline for survival, especially during Afghanistan’s harsh winter months,” said Isheeta.

Taliban-led Afghanistan has been trying to jump-start its economy since the American forces exited the country in 2021 and the group swiftly took control of Kabul. 

Qari Din said government reforms are revitalising the economy – exports are rising, inflation is at two per cent, and the Afghan currency against the US dollar is more stable now. 

-- BERNAMA