UN warns 17 million risk food insecurity in Afghanistan
AFP | Geneva
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The number of people facing acute food insecurity in Afghanistan this winter is on the rise, and now stands at more than 17 million, the United Nations warned yesterday.
“The situation is getting worse, and we need to act now as Afghanistan is entering the winter period where needs are highest,” said Jean-Martin Bauer, director of food security and nutrition analysis at the UN’s World Food Programme.
More than 17 million people are facing acute food insecurity: “three million more than last year”, he told a press briefing in Geneva.
Furthermore, “there are almost four million children in a situation of acute malnutrition”, he said.
Speaking from WFP’s Rome headquarters, Bauer said the situation was down to a combination of factors, including drought affecting crops and livestock, earthquakes that have plunged many families into poverty, and cuts in international aid. Added to this, the forced return of more than 2.5 million Afghans from Iran and Pakistan this year “is putting stress on very limited resources” and the “very limited infrastructure in the country”.
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