Status: 05/10/2022 2:55 p.m
Afghanistan is internationally isolated after the Taliban took power. Thanks to humanitarian aid, an impending starvation catastrophe in winter was just averted. But almost every second person has too little to eat.
According to an analysis by the UN World Food Program (WFP), almost half of the Afghan population is affected by acute hunger. It’s about 19.7 million people, said WFP expert Anthea Webb, responsible for the region.
The situation is particularly bad in the north-eastern province of Ghor. There, 20,000 people are affected by “catastrophic hunger”. They would have little opportunity to grow food after a particularly harsh winter. But across the country, people were suffering from a prolonged drought and a severe economic crisis.
“Hunger on an unprecedented scale”
Humanitarian aid prevented a catastrophe in winter. “But hunger persists across the country on an unprecedented scale,” emphasizes the UN expert. Webb spoke of the largest food aid program in the world, with which the organization had already reached 22 million people in Afghanistan this year.
In addition to food packages, there are programs to show people how to cultivate their fields despite changing conditions caused by climate change. The World Food Program works with mills and bakeries and trains men and women to create jobs. The organization needs 1.4 billion US dollars (equivalent to around 1.3 billion euros) to continue its programs in Afghanistan.