Kabul: Afghanistan's dire hunger crisis now affects 14 million people, including babies fed on little more than weak tea and bread by their despairing and dirt-poor parents.According to United Nations, the hunger crisis has reached a critical point, with only one in nine Afghans receiving World Food Programme (WFP) food assistance. Child malnutrition has hit record levels in 12 provinces, with children under two years of age being the hardest hit. The WFP has been forced to scale back lifesaving nutrition programs due to severe funding shortages, needing $500 million before winter to prevent a worsening humanitarian crisis.In a new alert, the UN World Food Programme stated that one in three Afghans is now grappling with acute food insecurity and lacks the resources to manage the deepening crisis. Conflict, widespread unemployment, soaring food prices, shrinking humanitarian funding, and disruption to supply routes are exacerbating the crisis, the WFP reported. The forced return of six million Afghans, ma inly from Pakistan and Iran since September 2023, has further strained the country's fragile economy.The return of Afghans expelled from neighboring countries has created a significant challenge, with insufficient jobs to sustain the returnees. Conflict with Pakistan and the Middle East crisis has disrupted trade, leading to a 20 to 30 percent increase in staple food prices. As funding cuts continue, the WFP can only provide food to one in nine of the 14 million people now acutely hungry in Afghanistan.Child wasting, the deadliest form of malnutrition, has reached critical levels in one-third of the country's provinces. The number of children being rushed to health centers is soaring, with 80 percent of the worst cases being children under two years of age. Many children arrive too late to be saved, according to Mr. Aylieff, WFP Country Director for Afghanistan.Shrinking humanitarian funding means millions of acutely malnourished Afghan children are being turned away without assistance at a time when th eir lives are at risk. During a recent visit to Kandahar, WFP staff met Farida, a mother of three, whose family struggles to survive on less than a dollar a day. Her children are suffering from anemia and acute malnutrition, with her baby surviving on weak tea due to the lack of milk.Farida's story is a common one, with families barely surviving on tea and bread. Without the food assistance they receive through a WFP-supported clinic, Farida fears her children would die. The WFP is only funded to feed one in seven acutely malnourished women and children, turning away six out of seven empty-handed.The WFP, in partnership with UNICEF, treats malnourished children and pregnant and breastfeeding mothers across the country. However, a sharp decline in funding has forced the agency to prioritize only the most vulnerable. The distribution of specialized nutritious foods to prevent malnutrition and stunting halted completely in May 2025.The UN food agency has warned that Afghanistan's nutrition crisis is spiral ing out of control. The WFP's operations for emergency food assistance and nutrition programs are estimated to cost $900 million for 2026, with $500 million needed to address the acute food needs in the country before winter.UN humanitarian aid office (OCHA) in Afghanistan spokesperson Olga Cherevko reported that the Afghan people are exhausted from poverty, hunger, climate shocks, and mounting debt. Despite the end of the 20-year conflict following the Taliban takeover, millions of Afghan children and women are projected to be malnourished. Humanitarians emphasize that deepening hunger fuels migration, radicalization, and instability, with consequences extending beyond Afghanistan's borders.
