Afghanistan
- 12.4 million
- people have acute food insecurity
- 1 in 4
- Afghans do not know where their next meal will come from
- 44.5 million
- population
The Afghan people continue to grapple with the consequences of four decades of conflict, with entrenched poverty further exacerbated by an economic crisis, frequent environmental disasters and the impact of a worsening climate crisis, and gender inequality.
Following peak hunger levels in 2021 and 2022, food security in Afghanistan has marginally improved, largely thanks to massive food and nutrition assistance that supported up to half the Afghan people. Nevertheless, more than a quarter of the Afghan population are still going hungry, including 2.4 million people facing emergency levels of food insecurity. These figures sadly keep the country squarely amongst other severe global hunger crises.
Increasingly erratic weather patterns are becoming the norm. Devastating flash floods across the country followed years of drought conditions that forced families to go hungry and leave their villages – swelling the number of urban poor. As the climate crisis worsens, the losses from flooding are expected to increase every year.
Present in Afghanistan since 1963, the World Food Programme works with partners to reach the most vulnerable communities in need of assistance across the country, in line with humanitarian principles.
What the World Food Programme is doing in Afghanistan
-
Emergency response
-
In the context of ongoing conflict and frequent natural disasters, WFP provides unconditional, fortified and nutritionally-balanced food assistance to vulnerable groups including people displaced by conflict, those affected by disasters, refugees, returnees from neighboring countries, and people affected by seasonal food insecurity.
-
Resilience building
-
WFP works together with communities to strengthen their ability to reduce the risk of disasters and adapt to climate change, while also creating employment opportunities both in urban and rural areas. This includes constructing or rehabilitating roads, canals, flood protection walls and reforestation, as well as vocational training.
-
Nutrition
-
WFP provides nutritional support tailored according to age, gender and vulnerability. In 2022, WFP has assisted 23 million people so far. Our targeted supplementary feeding programme assisted over 500,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women and over 1 million children under 5 suffering from or at risk of malnutrition.
-
Food systems
-
WFP is working with the Government and commercial partners to provide people throughout the country with access to nutritious food at affordable prices by supporting smallholder farmers, building local milling and fortification capacity, and strengthening value chains and food safety measures.
-
Advocacy for zero hunger
-
WFP supports government officials and partners in establishing zero hunger as a development priority and enhancing the coherence of their Zero Hunger policy through capacity strengthening, advocacy, public awareness and research, including the creation of Food Security and Nutrition committees at the province level to promote local ownership.
-
Capacity strengthening
-
To enhance the ability of the Government and the broader humanitarian and development community to respond to affected populations’ needs, WFP assists with the provision of assistance in beneficiary management, supply chain, information and communication technology, and facilities and information management.
Afghanistan news releases
Go to pageFind out more about the state of food security in Afghanistan
Visit the food security analysis pageOperations in Afghanistan
Contacts
Office
---
Kabul
Afghanistan
Phone
If you wish to share feedback or report a problem related to food assistance, please call (tollfree): 0790555544 (Sun-Thu, 8 am-4 pm) or email us at wfp.afg@wfp.org
Fax
+8707 63 089563 / Sat 1331-2513 (7807)