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
29.2 million people – two-thirds of Afghanistan’s population – require multi-sectoral humanitarian assistance in 2023
Highlights
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WFP has reached 16.4 million people since the beginning of 2023.
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WFP is forced to scale down its plan to around 3 million beneficiaries from September to November 2023. This follows a drastic reduction from reaching 13 million people in March to only 5 million in July.
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WFP initiated a phased resumption of operations and movement in the Lal district of Ghor province following extensive UN engagement with the de facto authorities. A comprehensive resumption plan with robust safeguards and monitoring mechanisms is in place.
Situation Update
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Overall, the food security situation in the country remains of great concern. A slowdown in economic activity compounded by the effects of drought, especially in the northern wheat belt and rainfed agricultural areas, continues to put stress on already vulnerable households. However, the return of most large markets’ food prices to 2021 levels, the steady recovery of daily casual labour demand, and the increase in wheat production compared to previous drought years helped alleviate the situation. This slight uptick in the food security situation has been confirmed at the April 2023 Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) IPC, though most provinces remain at IPC 3 – Crisis levels.
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WFP has been forced to drastically scale down its humanitarian response. WFP can only support around 3 million beneficiaries under emergency response from September to November 2023 due to a massive funding shortfall. This is a drastic reduction of 10 million, from reaching 13 million people in March to only 5 million in July, to 3 million now.
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The timeliness of resource mobilization remains crucial as winter approaches. Pre-positioning and delivering in-kind food assistance to IPC Phases 3 and 4 populations that might be cut off by winter weather is a top priority. The emergence of famine conditions (IPC Phase 5 – Catastrophe) is a possibility if timely and sufficient assistance is not provided. If WFP does not receive funding within the next few weeks, it will be unable to fill the shortfall in November.