Attachments
Key results
Afghanistan continues to experience marginal improvements in food security since the large degradation in the situation following the political transition of 2021. Nonetheless, over a third of Afghanistan’s population (14.2 million people) are still experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 or above), driven by climatic shocks and high food prices. This includes 2.9 million people in IPC Phase 4 (Emergency), the majority of whom are located in Badakshan, Baghdis, Ghor, Ghazni, Helmand, Herat (urban and rural), Kunduz, Kandahar and Takhar provinces.
Despite the stress placed on the economy and institutional support systems in 2021, which was near total collapse, households have reported improvement in their capacity to meet basic needs since then. The slight improvement in the food security situation can be attributed to humanitarian and livelihood support initiatives, as well as enhanced purchasing power at the household level.
However, poverty still impacts one out of every two Afghans. Difficulties in agriculture brought on by the irregular onset of El Nino and lingering effects of the drought remain and are coupled with widespread economic fragility and new shocks, including the ongoing influx of returnees from Pakistan and the Herat earthquakes.
The projected decline in the total number of people in high levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 or above) in the post-harvest period (May to October 2024) compared to the same period in the previous years, and especially for Phase 4 food insecurity, will likely be driven by the scale of humanitarian food and emergency agricultural assistance and the improvements to the cereal harvest in 2023. Despite these improvements, food insecurity levels remain high compared to long-term averages.