Attachments
In Numbers
15.3 million people are projected to be acutely food- insecure between May and October 2023, including 2.8 million people in Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Phase 4 (Emergency)
4 million people are acutely malnourished, including 3.2 million children under the age of 5
28.3 million people – two-thirds of Afghanistan’s population – require multi-sectoral humanitarian assistance in 2023
Highlights
- In May, WFP cut 4 million people from its emergency food assistance for the second month in a row due to severe funding constraints. Since the beginning of April, 8 million people have not received assistance due to persistent funding shortfalls.
- A severe locust outbreak is affecting at least eight provinces in northern Afghanistan. If not swiftly contained, up to a quarter of this year’s annual harvest could be destroyed.
- WFP provided emergency assistance to 350 people in Nangarhar, following flash floods in early May that killed at least 4 people and damaged 300 homes.
Situation Update
-
Sustained humanitarian assistance has effectively reduced the total number of food-insecure people in Afghanistan, from 20 million during the winter lean season, to 15.3 million projected for May to October 2023. However, millions of lives are still at risk and continued humanitarian support is needed to keep already very worrying malnutrition and hunger rates from further increasing.
-
A 30-35 percent wheat deficit is expected for 2023 following the third consecutive drought year in Afghanistan. While forecasts suggest an overall improvement in wheat production from previous years, western provinces are likely to see below- average harvests.
-
A severe locust outbreak in northern Afghanistan threatens to destroy a quarter of this year’s wheat harvest – up to 1.2 million metric tons (mt), worth US$480 million. Large-scale locust control operations are underway to reduce the impact and mitigate the risks of a potentially more devastating outbreak in 2024.
-
Afghanistan is among the countries with the highest prevalence of insufficient food consumption globally. Hunger is primarily driven by the economic crisis that has gripped Afghanistan since August 2021, compounded by decades of conflict, climate shocks, and severe restrictions on the rights of women and girls to work and pursue higher education.