File photo from a family in Kabul.
Nearly 16 million people in Afghanistan are facing crisis-level hunger, including 3.4 million in emergency conditions, as declining incomes and limited access to basic services leave millions unable to afford enough food, a UN official said Tuesday.
Olga Cherevko, a spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said the situation is expected to deteriorate further with the onset of winter, when around 19 million people are projected to face acute food insecurity.
“A harvest can improve, markets can have food, but families can still go hungry,” Cherevko told reporters from Kabul after recent visits to southern and northeastern Afghanistan.
She said the crisis is not simply driven by the availability of food, but by whether families can afford it, earn an income and access essential services.
“I saw first-hand that this crisis is not simply about whether food exists, but whether people can afford it, whether they can earn an income, access basic services or whether they have anything left to fall back on when the next shock comes,” she said.
The latest findings from the UN-supported Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, show record levels of acute malnutrition for the August-October period.
“The outlook is deteriorating,” Cherevko said, adding that years of conflict, economic hardship, drought and other shocks have eroded families’ ability to cope.
She also warned that Taliban restrictions on women and girls could further undermine Afghanistan’s ability to address hunger and malnutrition.
Citing UNICEF projections, Cherevko said Afghanistan could lose as many as 20,000 female teachers and 5,400 female health workers by 2030 if current restrictions remain in place.
She said women’s access to health care, education and employment is closely linked to nutrition, particularly through maternal health and families’ ability to provide adequate diets for children.
Cherevko called for continued humanitarian assistance alongside longer-term investment in agriculture, rural livelihoods, employment, local markets, water systems and health and nutrition services.
She also called for greater opportunities for women to participate in economic life.
“Humanitarian aid can and does save lives today,” she said. “But only sustained, inclusive investment in livelihoods, services and economic opportunity can help people build lives that are less dependent on emergency assistance tomorrow.”
Cherevko urged action before winter further deepens the crisis.
“We must act before winter, not after families have exhausted their options,” she said.