The World Food Programme (WFP) says food insecurity and malnutrition in Afghanistan are worsening at an alarming pace, raising concerns about the situation during the upcoming winter months.
In a post on X on Sunday (December 8), the agency warned that malnutrition among women and children is likely to rise during winter, reaching levels not seen in recent years.
Carl Skau, WFP’s Deputy Executive Director, told Al Jazeera that the organisation is increasingly worried about escalating hunger and shrinking humanitarian funding in Afghanistan.
He noted that severe budget shortfalls have forced WFP to cut the number of people it supports from 10 million to just two million.
Skau also warned of the risk of child deaths during the winter due to a lack of access to food assistance.
According to UN figures, 3.5 million children under the age of five in Afghanistan are suffering from acute malnutrition, while more than 1.2 million pregnant and breastfeeding women are also affected.
UN agencies have repeatedly warned this year that humanitarian operations in Afghanistan face major funding gaps, leaving them unable to reach millions of people in urgent need of assistance.
