Child malnutrition has reached critical levels in a third of Afghanistan’s provinces and is expected to worsen as funding shortfalls force cuts in food distributions and other support, the United Nations World Food Program said Tuesday, reports BritPanorama.
“We must act now to stem the rise in child deaths, which this crisis is provoking,” John Aylieff, WFP’s country director in Afghanistan, said in a statement, adding that “it is already too late for too many.”
Afghanistan continues to recover from decades of conflict and upheaval, including the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. forces in 2021 as the Taliban took power.
Olga Cherevko, spokesperson for the U.N. humanitarian office in Afghanistan, reported that nutrition specialists indicate “wasting among children has worsened this year in over three-quarters of the country.” Children afflicted by wasting are acutely malnourished, presenting a very low weight for their height and requiring immediate therapeutic feeding.
However, Cherevko noted that “too many children arrive at health facilities severely malnourished” while others do not survive the journey, she remarked during a briefing at U.N. headquarters via video from Afghanistan, where she has traveled extensively in recent months.
WFP announced that 142 health centers closed in 2025 due to aid reductions, resulting in more than 13,000 children losing access to vital nutrition treatments. Although the agency did not specify any particular donor, it is well-documented that significant cuts in foreign aid have occurred, especially under the previous U.S. administration.
Nearly 3.7 million Afghan children are projected to suffer from acute malnutrition this year, alongside 1.2 million pregnant and breastfeeding women, according to WFP data.
The agency reported that 12 Afghan provinces have reached unprecedented levels of acute child malnutrition, attributing this crisis to a combination of conflict, unemployment, surging food prices, disease outbreaks, poor water and sanitation, and diminished humanitarian funding.
Deliveries delayed by the Iran war and other fighting
WFP indicated that supply shortages linked to conflict in the Middle East and the nine-month closure of Pakistan’s border due to hostilities have severely disrupted deliveries of nutrition products, leaving nearly one million malnourished women and children forsaken without essential nutrition services for five months.
From August through October, WFP has reported that food distributions intended to avert famine in the most affected areas will be halted due to lack of funding, despite the annual peak season for malnutrition occurring between July and October.
The agency has urgently requested $540 million within the next six months to address the ongoing crisis.
WFP previously described cuts as ‘devastating’
Humanitarian organizations operating in Afghanistan are facing severe funding cuts. In February, Aylieff informed The Associated Press that these reductions had been “devastating” and forced the agency to turn away three out of four acutely malnourished children.
