Afghanistan sees record surge in child malnutrition, warns WFP

Afghanistan is experiencing its sharpest-ever increase in child malnutrition, the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) announced on Monday, underscoring a worsening humanitarian crisis as donor support dwindles and climate conditions deteriorate.

Nearly 10 million people — about a quarter of the country’s population — are grappling with acute food insecurity, with one in three children suffering from stunted growth due to prolonged malnutrition, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media.

The UN agency attributed the alarming trend to a steep reduction in emergency food assistance over the past two years. This drop, it said, has largely resulted from declining international funding.

In April, the administration of US President Donald Trump halted food aid to Afghanistan, one of the world’s poorest nations. The US had previously been the WFP’s largest contributor, accounting for $4.5 billion of the agency’s $9.8 billion in global donations last year. Earlier US administrations had viewed humanitarian aid as a tool for promoting stability by addressing poverty, conflict, extremism, and irregular migration.

The WFP now says it needs $539 million to support Afghanistan’s most vulnerable families through January.

The crisis is being further compounded by mass deportations from neighbouring countries, particularly Iran, which have sent tens of thousands of Afghans back across the border in recent months. Many of those deported arrive with no resources and face dire conditions upon return.

“Going forward, the WFP does not have sufficient funding to cover the returnee response at this time and requires $15 million to assist all eligible returnees from Iran,”  WFP Communications Officer Ziauddin Safi said, noting that the agency has so far supported 60,000 Afghans who recently returned from Iran — a fraction of those crossing back.

Climate change is also exacerbating the crisis. Extreme weather conditions, including droughts, flash floods, and water scarcity, are having a severe impact on rural livelihoods and agricultural productivity.

Drought, water shortages, declining arable land, and flash floods were having a “profound impact” on people’s lives and the economy, said Matiullah Khalis, head of Afghanistan’s National Environmental Protection Agency, last week.

By Vugar Khalilov