KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Nearly five million mothers and children in Afghanistan are suffering from malnutrition amid the country’s deepening hunger crisis, the World Food Programme (WFP) said on Friday.
Rania Dagash, WFP Assistant Executive Director, called the figure “unprecedented” in Afghanistan’s history. She cited aid cuts, prolonged drought, natural disasters, and the return of around two million migrants as key drivers of the crisis.
Dagash visited a health center in Kabul where a mother, recently returned from Pakistan, had two malnourished children and no resources to support her family. The center, which serves 95,000 people, was overcrowded, with patients queuing for hours and some walking up to three kilometers to return the next day.
Malnutrition has long been a serious problem in Afghanistan, but the situation has worsened dramatically since the Taliban returned to power in 2021. Ongoing droughts, recurrent natural disasters, mass returns of refugees, displacement of millions of people within the country, widespread unemployment, and food insecurity have all compounded the crisis. Children and mothers remain the most vulnerable groups, facing heightened risks of illness, stunted growth, and long-term health problems.
Meanwhile, humanitarian agencies have been struggling to meet growing needs amid one of the most severe funding shortfalls in recent years. The United Nations reports that its $2.4 billion humanitarian appeal for Afghanistan remains significantly underfunded, with only 20% of requested funds received as of August. This lack of funding has forced many organizations to reduce or suspend operations, leaving thousands of families without essential support.
UN officials have repeatedly warned that the funding gap is putting millions of lives at risk, aggravating existing hardships caused by hunger, malnutrition, infectious diseases, and ongoing drought. Aid agencies continue to appeal for urgent international support to prevent the crisis from escalating further and to provide life-saving assistance to the most vulnerable populations.
