UN warns of pending food crisis in Afghanistan

A senior UN official warns that food in Afghanistan could run out this month, threatening to add a hunger crisis to the challenges facing the country’s new Taliban rulers as they endeavor to restore stability after decades of war.

Ramiz Alakbarov says that about a third of the country’s population of 38 million is facing “emergency” or “crisis” levels of food insecurity. Alakbarov is the local UN humanitarian coordinator. With winter coming and a severe drought ongoing, more money is needed to feed the population.

He says the UN’s World Food Program has brought in food and distributed it to tens of thousands of people in recent weeks. But of the $1.3 billion needed for aid efforts, only 39% has been received.

Alakbarov says: “Without additional funding, food stocks will run out at the end of September.”