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UN food agency alarmed by Afghan food, fuel prices
An official with the U.N. food agency warned Friday that with Russia’s war in Ukraine taking an increasing toll on the global economy, the ripples of that conflict will further increase food and fuel prices in Afghanistan.
Currently, as many as 95% of the country’s 38 million people don’t have enough to eat or money to buy food, The Associated Press reported.
Shelley Thakral, a spokeswoman for the World Food Program, said that food prices in Afghanistan rose nearly 40% over the last eight months.
The WFP has spent $1 billion feeding millions of Afghans this year but needs another $1.6 billion, Thakral added.
“The worrying thing, I think and this includes Afghanistan as well as all the other hunger spots across the world, is the rise in food and fuel prices,” said Thakral.
So far, donor countries have not sidelined Afghanistan but she said they “have to dig deeper” as Europe deals with the shockwaves of the war and the 3.2 million refugees who have fled Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion on February 24.
Thakral’s remarks echoed those of U.N. refugee chief Filippo Grandi, who warned during a visit to Kabul on Tuesday that the war in Ukraine could siphon off money from humanitarian crisis elsewhere, including in Afghanistan, and that soaring food prices could cripple humanitarian efforts.
While most of Afghanistan’s wheat supplies come from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, Thakral said the increasing food and fuel cost as a result of the war could add up to 20% to the costs of providing humanitarian assistance, AP reported.
When the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) swept to power in August, international donor money, which paid more than 80% percent of Afghanistan’s bills, dried up and the country’s economy went into free fall.
There was food on Kabul markets on Friday but Masihullah, standing by his small grocery stall, said no one has money. Most people don’t have jobs, Masihullah said.
A sack of flour costs nearly $28 and most Afghans are now below the poverty line, which means they earn $1.90 a day or less, AP reported.
Thakral said 80% of Afghans are in debt because they have had to borrow to pay for food or medicines and even working Afghans look to the WFP for food aid because they don’t make enough to be able to afford the food on the market.
A Human Rights Watch report released Thursday said that since January, about 13,000 newborns have died from malnutrition and hunger-related diseases in Afghanistan and 3.5 million children need nutritional support.
“If the countries we import food from face a challenge, we face a challenge,” said Masihullah.
“There is war between Russia and Ukraine, so we are affected … there is a high increase in prices of oil and wheat.”
A U.K. pledging summit to be held later this month expects to raise $4.4 billion to stave off a worsening humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, said Thakral.
“Right now in Afghanistan, what we need to sustain is the attention on the people here,” she said.
Noorullah Noori, Afghanistan’s Minister of Borders and Tribal Affairs, held a phone conversation with Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs, to discuss bilateral border cooperation.
According to the Iranian news agency IRNA, both sides reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening border collaboration, with a particular focus on the ongoing renovation and updating of border markers. They also agreed to accelerate joint technical and legal meetings to enhance coordination.
As part of the agreement, the next meeting of senior border officials from Afghanistan and Iran is scheduled to take place in Iran in 1405 (2026–2027).
The Director General of the OIC Mission in Kabul, Mohammed Saeed Alayyash, met on Sunday with Rolf Dieter Reinhard, Head of the German Liaison Office for Afghanistan in Doha and Acting Chargé d’Affaires of the German Embassy in Afghanistan.
During the discussion, both sides exchanged views on the latest developments in Afghanistan. They focused on the security situation, as well as the humanitarian and economic conditions faced by the Afghan people.
The two officials also reviewed recent political developments and broader challenges in the country, highlighting the need for continued international engagement and support.
The meeting emphasized the importance of ongoing cooperation and coordination between the OIC Mission and the German side in addressing Afghanistan’s challenges and in supporting efforts to promote stability and improve the humanitarian situation.
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Pakistan president claims situation in Afghanistan is ‘similar to or worse than pre-9/11’’
Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari has warned that the presence of militant groups in the region poses risks to global peace, and repeated Islamabad’s concerns regarding what it describes as the activities of “terrorist organisations operating from Afghanistan.”
Zardari made the remarks in a statement issued Sunday, as he thanked world leaders for expressing solidarity with Pakistan following the recent attack on an imambargah in Islamabad, which left dozens dead and many others wounded. The incident was claimed by Daesh militant group.
According to the statement from the President’s Secretariat, Zardari said Pakistan remains committed to combating terrorism and stressed that no single country can address the threat alone.
“Pakistan has long maintained that terrorism cannot be confronted by a single country in isolation,” he was quoted as saying.
Citing Pakistan’s experience, he said in the statement that whenever “terrorist groups are allowed space, facilitation or impunity beyond national borders, the consequences are borne by innocent civilians all over the world.”
Zardari further claimed that the situation in Afghanistan under the Islamic Emirate authorities has created conditions “similar to or worse than pre-9/11,” and said this has influenced security developments across the region. IEA has repeatedly rejected such allegations, insisting that Afghan soil is not used against any country.
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