Kabul: Nearly 16 million people in Afghanistan are experiencing acute food insecurity, including 3.4 million facing emergency levels of hunger, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said, adding that the conditions are likely to worsen during the winter months, local media reported Wednesday.
UN OCHA spokesperson Olga Cherevko made the statement after visiting southern and northeastern Afghanistan. She said millions of families still cannot buy enough food due to unemployment, low incomes, and limited access to essential services, Afghanistan-based news agency Khaama Press reported.
The UN’s warning comes as Afghanistan prepares for the winter season, when people often face more difficulty in earning money and buying food.
Olga Cherevko said years of conflict, economic problems, drought and repeated crises have weakened the ability of people to deal with further shocks in Afghanistan.
She emphasised that humanitarian assistance is needed for saving lives, but it cannot permanently replace public services, jobs and sustainable sources of income.
Cherevko called for making more investments in agriculture, rural livelihoods, local markets, employment, water systems, health services and increasing economic opportunities for women.
She urged the international community to take action before winter, warning that assistance must reach vulnerable families before they exhaust their remaining resources, Khaama Press reported.
Last week, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) said that nearly 40 per cent of Afghanistan’s population is projected to face high levels of acute food insecurity this winter, while cases of acute malnutrition are set to surge in 2027.
Citing the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis, the two UN agencies said about 19.2 million people, or 38 per cent of the population, will face high levels of acute food insecurity during the November-April lean season, up from 17.4 million projected for the same period a year earlier.
Around five million of them are expected to face emergency levels of hunger (IPC Phase 4), double the number projected for April-September 2026, with the worst conditions likely in Badakhshan, Badghis, Daykundi, Ghor, Samangan, Sar-e-Pol and rural Ghazni.
Malnutrition cases are expected to rise by nearly 10 per cent compared to 2026 to four million, a quarter of them severe and life-threatening, even as prevention and treatment services lag, leaving women and children most exposed, the agencies said.
The crisis is being driven by multiple shocks, including the forced return of more than 1.2 million Afghans from Iran and Pakistan this year, border closures and disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz that have pushed up prices of basic goods, and sharp funding shortfalls for humanitarian aid.
The agencies noted that favourable rainfall had boosted crop production in 2026, but said persistent unemployment meant many families who do not grow their own food still cannot afford a nutritious diet.
