Food Insecurity and Child Malnutrition Worsen in Afghanistan Despite Strong Agricultural Season

Credit: UN Photo/Luke PowellOpinion by FAO, WFP (kabul, afghanistan)Tuesday, October 20, 2026Inter Press ServiceHigh food and transport costs, scarce work and declining humanitarian assistance are squeezing families’ access to food as winter approaches. KABUL, Afghanistan, October 20 (IPS) - Nearly 40 percent of the population of Afghanistan is projected to face high levels of acute food insecurity this winter, and cases of acute malnutrition are expected to soar during 2027, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned. This is according to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis, which projects that approximately 19.2 million people (38% of the population) will face high levels of acute food insecurity during the November-April lean season, which lasts through the winter. This is an increase from 17.4 million projected for the same period a year earlier. An estimated five million of those who are acutely food insecure will be facing emergency levels of hunger (IPC Phase 4) – double the number projected for April-September 2026 – meaning immediate food assistance and urgen...