OMM Newsroom
The United Nations said on Tuesday that 19.2 million people in Afghanistan could face acute food insecurity this winter. Despite higher wheat production, families are struggling to afford food.
According to AnewZ, Olga Cherevko, a spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), spoke from Kabul during a briefing in Geneva. She shared observations from recent visits to southern and northeastern Afghanistan.
“I want to start with something that can be overlooked when talking about Afghanistan in figures: the harvest can increase and food can be available in markets, but families can still go hungry,” Cherevko said.
According to OCHA, 15.9 million people faced crisis-level or more severe food insecurity in September and October. Of them, 3.4 million were experiencing emergency levels of hunger.
Children at risk of acute malnutrition
Cherevko said five million people could face emergency levels of hunger from November to April. More than four million children are expected to need treatment for acute malnutrition next year.
Declining humanitarian funding has worsened the crisis: about one-third of nutrition centres have been forced to close or suspend services.
“These figures reflect children whose parents cannot afford nutritious food, as well as families whose ability to cope has been exhausted by years of conflict, economic hardship, drought and other shocks,” Cherevko stressed.
Wheat production rises 13.4%
Wheat production rose 13.4% to 5.15 million tonnes, according to figures released on Tuesday by Afghanistan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock. The total was 4.54 million tonnes last year.
Domestic demand is estimated at 7.09 million tonnes. Afghanistan therefore faces a wheat shortfall of about 1.94 million tonnes, which is partly covered by imports.
Cherevko stressed the importance of providing emergency assistance before winter begins, as well as investing more in agriculture, livelihoods and essential services to strengthen families’ resilience to future crises.
“We must act before winter begins, not after families have exhausted every possible way to cope,” she said.
