Nearly 10 million people in Afghanistan require emergency food assistance to survive, the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) said in a report released Thursday, warning that the country remains one of the world’s most acute hunger hotspots.
According to the WFP, an estimated 21 percent of the Afghan population is facing high levels of acute food insecurity, with projections showing that conditions could deteriorate further between May and October 2025.
Of the nearly 10 million affected, 1.6 million people — or about 4 percent of the population — are classified as being in the “emergency” phase of food insecurity, while another 7.93 million people (17 percent) are in the “crisis” phase, the report said.
Despite the alarming figures, the WFP noted a slight improvement compared to earlier this year. From March to April 2025, approximately 12.6 million people, or 27 percent of the population, were experiencing severe food insecurity.
The report attributed the improvement to several factors, including increased humanitarian food assistance, emergency agricultural support, modest economic growth, and a decline in active conflict across the country.
However, the WFP cautioned that these gains remain fragile. Ongoing climate-related risks, economic instability, and a recent 40 percent cut in humanitarian food security funding threaten to reverse progress and place additional pressure on Afghanistan’s most vulnerable households.
“The reductions in aid, combined with environmental and socio-economic stresses, pose a serious risk to families already on the edge,” the agency warned.
Afghanistan has faced a complex web of overlapping crises in recent years, including conflict, economic collapse, climate shocks, and widespread poverty — all of which continue to challenge international efforts to stabilize food security in the country.
