A new class of hungry is created among the Afghanistan Urbans with job loss, lack of clash and soaring price making life even harder after the Taliban take over.
For the first time, urban residents are suffering from food insecurity at similar rates to rural communities, which have been ravaged by drought twice in the past three years, warned the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP).
ENOUGH TO EAT
The WFP calculated that only five percent of households in the country have enough to eat every day. While half of them reported to have run out of food altogether at least once in the past two weeks, the agency said.
WFP’s Country Director and Representative Mary-Ellen McGroarty said that the economic freefall in Afghan has been abrupt and unrelenting. This had added to an already difficult situation, as the country grappled with a second severe drought in three years. “We are doing everything we can to support Afghan communities at this critical time,” McGroarty said.
MIDDLE CLASS
The WFP stated that the middle class people in Afghanistan also struggled much with only ten percent of households headed by someone with a secondary or university education were able to buy sufficient food for their families every day. Though the situation is worse for those less well educated, the unprecedented prevalence of hunger among families that had previously been spared the scourge of hunger signals the depth of the crisis facing Afghans.
On average, breadwinners in Afghanistan are finding work just one day a week, barely enough to afford food that is rapidly increasing in price. Cooking oil, for example, has almost doubled in price since 2020, and wheat is up by 28 percent, the WFP said.
ECONOMIC COLLAPSE
The UN Agency noted that Afghanistan was on the brink of economic collapse. A rapid withdrawal of international aid combined with the inability to access overseas assets led to the situation. This led to a cash crisis, a sharp drop in the value of the local currency. This led to a sudden halt in foreign investment, driving more families into food insecurity as jobs and income dry up, the WFP said. .
“WFP is stepping up to the urgent challenge which is now two-fold. First, we continue to assist the people who need it most to avoid acute hunger and malnutrition from devastating the country, and second, we are strengthening local capacity to produce food and get it to market, while also providing short-term work opportunities that help stabilise the economy and give families access to cash,” McGroarty said.
WFP AID
The WFP pointed out that it provided 6.4 million people with food assistance this year, including more than 1.4 million people since the Taliban takeover on August 15. WFP runs programmes designed to both address the immediate needs of people facing emergencies, while also building community resilience so they are better able to cope in times of crisis.
WFP works with communities to strengthen their ability to reduce the risk of disasters and adapt to climate change, while also creating employment opportunities to provide much-needed cash in desperate times. This includes constructing or rehabilitating roads, canals, flood protection walls and reforestation, as well as vocational training.
Throughout the difficult weeks in August and September, WFP has continued school feeding programmes, helping to keep boys and girls in school and staving off malnutrition, while bolstering the local economy when food is produced and purchased locally, and creating stable markets, supporting local agriculture, and strengthening local food systems.
“WFP is racing against the clock to provide lifesaving food and nutrition assistance to the most vulnerable Afghan families. We urgently need $200 million to buy and preposition food before the winter sets in – if we miss this window the consequences will be catastrophic,” warned McGroarty.
