UN warns of looming Afghanistan food crisis

By Nathan Morley

The United Nations has warned that Afghanistan is on a countdown to catastrophe with millions facing the threat of starvation as winter approaches.

Afghanistan was already in crisis before the Tailban takeover back in August.

Now the World Food Programme says the problems caused by conflict have been replaced by an economic implosion. It warns that more than half the population – around 22 million people – are suffering hunger every day.

The agency says the freezing of funds has left locals NGO’s struggling to work.

QU Dongyu, the director of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation said it was urgent to act efficiently and effectively to speed up and scale up deliveries in Afghanistan before winter cuts off a large part of the country.

Last month, the WFP warned that only five percent of Afghan families had enough to eat every day. To make matters worse, the crisis compounds the impact of a blistering drought and Covid-19.

Afghanistan fell to the Taliban after the United States withdrew the last of its remaining troops.