UN world food programme warns of growing hunger crisis in Afghanistan
The World Food Program said that malnutrition levels are soaring and some 2 million children need nutrition treatment to survive.
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that people in Afghanistan are facing hunger crisis, news agency ANI reported quoting Voice of America (VOA). A United Nations assessment of the food security and nutrition situation in Afghanistan finds that one in three Afghans face acute food insecurity, the VOA report said.
This means an estimated 14 million people in the war-torn nation are barely able to meet their daily minimum food needs, ANI further quoted the report as saying.
The World Food Program said that malnutrition levels are soaring and some 2 million children need nutrition treatment to survive.
WFP spokesperson Tomson Phiri said the Afghan people are facing artificial and natural disaster, rendering them unable to feed their families. He stated that a poor harvest is projected as the nation has been hit by a second drought in four years, reported VOA. "We fear the worst is yet to come and a larger tide of hunger is fast approaching," Phiri said, adding that “It is not a secret the situation has worsened and is becoming increasingly unpredictable. The conflict has accelerated much faster than we all anticipated. And the situation has all the hallmarks of a humanitarian catastrophe,” Phiri added.
Phiri said that the WFP has provided food aid to more than 4 million people in the last three months.
"We fear the worst is yet to come and the larger tide of hunger is fast approaching... The situation has all the hallmarks of a humanitarian catastrophe. Aid workers are working under extraordinary circumstances in Afghanistan. Notwithstanding the challenges, the World Food Program’s plan is to preposition food closest to peoples’ homes," Phiri told a UN briefing.
