Attachments
In Numbers
Nearly 20 million people are projected to be acutely food-insecure between November 2022 and March 2023, including more than 6 million people in IPC Phase 4 (Emergency), according to preliminary estimates
4 million people are acutely malnourished, including 3.2 million children under the age of five
28.3 million people – two-thirds of Afghanistan’s population – require multi-sectoral humanitarian assistance in 2023
Highlights
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More than 22.6 million people in Afghanistan received WFP’s emergency food, nutrition, and livelihood support thus far in 2022. In December, WFP has so far assisted more than 3.5 million people, with ongoing distributions.
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WFP Afghanistan bids farewell to its Representative and Country Director, Mary-Ellen McGroarty. The Country Office thanks Mel for her tremendous leadership over the past two years and wishes her all the best on her next assignment.
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In 2023, WFP requires US$2.2 billion to deliver emergency food, nutrition, and livelihood support to people in need. WFP has the operational capacity to scale up its operations if additional resources become available.
Situation Update
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Nearly 20 million people in Afghanistan are acutely food-insecure (IPC 3+), including more than 6 million people on the brink of famine-like conditions in IPC Phase 4 (Emergency), according to preliminary projections for November 2022 to March 2023.
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Afghanistan continues to face the highest prevalence of insufficient food consumption globally. Results from WFP’s October Food Security Update show that nine in ten households consumed insufficient food, with little change over the past 12 months. On average, 90 percent of household income is spent on food, while 50 percent of households rely on coping strategies to meet their basic food needs.
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Female-headed households are disproportionately affected, as 84 percent are unable to consume sufficient food amid restrictions. Women are twice as likely to sacrifice their meals so that their families can eat, compared to male-headed households.
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Household debt has increased six-fold since 2019, and by 44 percent among urban households since 2021, as households struggle to meet their basic needs amidst the economic crisis.
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The current food crisis is perpetuated by a concurrent climate crisis, as 30 out of 34 provinces in Afghanistan report extremely low water quality. The proportion of households feeling the impact of drought in 2022 is six times greater than in 2020 as Afghanistan enters its third consecutive drought year.