Millions face acute food insecurity in Afghanistan as winter approaches, UN warns

More than 17 million people in Afghanistan are expected to face crisis levels of hunger during the coming winter months, according to a new warning from the United Nations and the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), the leading global authority on hunger crises.

The IPC reported that worsening economic conditions, recurrent drought, shrinking international aid and the return of large numbers of Afghans from neighboring Iran and Pakistan have placed severe pressure on the country’s food security. The situation marks a sharp deterioration compared with last year.

“What the IPC tells us is that more than 17 million people in Afghanistan are facing acute food insecurity. That is three million more than last year,” said Jean-Martin Bauer, Director of Food Security at the UN World Food Programme (WFP), speaking to reporters in Geneva. Bauer added that nearly four million children are suffering from acute malnutrition.

“About one million of them are severely acutely malnourished and require hospital treatment,” he said.

The IPC report said food assistance currently reaches only 2.7 percent of Afghanistan’s population, a figure further undermined by high unemployment, a weak economy and declining remittances from Afghans living abroad.

According to the assessment, more than one-third of the population is projected to experience crisis-level food insecurity between now and March 2026, with as many as 4.7 million people at risk of falling into emergency levels of hunger.

The humanitarian situation has been compounded by a magnitude 6.0 earthquake that struck eastern Kunar province in September, killing more than 2,200 people and prompting aid agencies to appeal for increased international support.

The European Union has pledged €1 million in humanitarian funding along with 130 tonnes of in-kind assistance, while the United Kingdom announced £1 million in additional aid.

However, aid agencies say overall funding remains critically low. International humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan has dropped sharply since the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) returned to power in 2021.

By September, only 28 percent of the 2025 humanitarian funding target had been met. The United States, once the largest donor, significantly reduced its support earlier this year.

With winter approaching and resources stretched thin, UN agencies warn that without urgent funding and expanded food assistance, millions of Afghans face an increasingly severe humanitarian crisis.