Nearly 55% of Afghan population expected to face food insecurity from Nov 2021 to Mar 2022, says UN report

“An estimated 22.8 million people, or 55 per cent of the population, are expected to be in crisis or emergency levels of food insecurity (IPC 3+) between November 2021 and March 2022, a nearly 35 per cent increase from the same season last year (16.9m),” the UN report showed.

More than half of Afghanistan’s population is estimated to be experiencing emergency levels of food insecurity between November 2021 and March 2022, according to an United Nations report.

In picture - Internally displaced Afghans from northern provinces, who fled their home due to fighting between the Taliban and Afghan security personnel, wait to receive free food in a public park in Kabul, Afghanistan on Aug. 10, 2021.(AP )

“The country is currently facing the second drought in four years and the worst of its kind in 27 years,” the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) said in a situation report. “An estimated 22.8 million people, or 55 per cent of the population, are expected to be in crisis or emergency levels of food insecurity (IPC 3+) between November 2021 and March 2022, a nearly 35 per cent increase from the same season last year (16.9m),” the report added.

“Even prior to the events of 15 August, the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan was one of the worst in the world. By the mid-year mark, nearly half of the population – some 18.4 million people – were already in need of humanitarian and protection assistance in 2021,” the report further noted.

Meanwhile, the spokesperson for UN secretary-general pointed to reports that showed isolated clashes and violence affecting civilians and resulting in casualties continued across the war-torn country this week, according to a report by news agency ANI.

Further, the report also said that issues related to food security were driven largely due to drought and even after the harvest, as much as 57% of the households did not have food reserves to last for three months.

Also, the situation is expected to deteriorate in 10 out of the 11 most populated urban areas, the report said. “In urban areas, income loss (driven by economic shocks) has contributed to the rapid deterioration in food insecurity,” the report showed.

“No population group had a net positive income in 2021. Assessments show that more households have higher than average debt this year. This is increasingly concerning as food basket costs are steadily rising, constituting more than 82 per cent of the average HH income,” it further said.

Earlier in October, a report released by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the UN World Food Programme (WFP) echoed similar alarming forecasts for the country.

“The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report has found that more than one in two Afghans will be facing crisis (IPC Phase 3) or emergency (IPC Phase 4) levels of acute food insecurity through the November 2021 to March 2022 lean season, requiring urgent humanitarian interventions to meet basic food needs, protect livelihoods and prevent a humanitarian catastrophe,” the FAO had said.