Due to reductions in foreign donations, the World Food Programme has warned of a rising food crisis in Afghanistan, claiming it can only feed half of the country’s millions of hungry people.
Following cuts in international help and an imminent block in US foreign financing, the head of the World Food Programme in Afghanistan believes the organization can only feed half of the millions of Afghans in need.
“Bread and tea” was all that many people were eating, according to WFP Country Director Hsiao-Wei Lee, who spoke to Reuters.
When the Taliban took power in 2021 and all security and development aid to the nation was halted, along with restrictions on the financial industry, Afghanistan was on the verge of an economic catastrophe.
Since then, some of the vacuum has been filled by humanitarian aid, which aims to finance critical needs through non-profit organizations and avoid government control. However, because to conflicting international crises and Taliban limitations on women, including their directive that Afghan women NGO employees cease employment, donors have been gradually reducing their contributions in recent years.
Shortly before her three-year stint in Afghanistan came to an end, Lee told Reuters that during this year’s severe winter, about half of the 15 million Afghans who are in dire need of food were not receiving rations due to financial shortages.
In an interview on Saturday, she stated, “That’s over 6 million people who are probably eating one or two meals a day and it’s just bread and tea.” “Unfortunately this is what the situation looks like for so many that have been removed from assistance.”
According to UN data, Afghanistan’s humanitarian plan received just over half of its 2024 funding, and relief officials have expressed concern that this could drop even further this year.
