Kabul | Jan 16, 2026

The malnutrition crisis in Afghanistan is worsening at an alarming rate, with women and children bearing the brunt of its devastating impact, according to the World Food Programme (WFP). John Aylieff, WFP’s director for Afghanistan, described the situation as “heartbreaking” and warned that millions of families face life-threatening hunger if international aid continues to decline.

Afghanistan has been governed by the Taliban since 2021, a period during which the country has faced widespread economic collapse, a sharp reduction in foreign aid, and restrictions on women’s rights, including bans on women working in most professions and girls attending school beyond age 12. These conditions have exacerbated the humanitarian crisis.

Speaking to AFP, Aylieff said that over the next 12 months, an estimated five million women and children will experience acute malnutrition, the most severe form of malnutrition that can be fatal if left untreated. Of these, nearly four million children will require treatment for malnutrition, highlighting the scale of the emergency.

“The numbers are staggering,” Aylieff said. “Clinics that treat malnourished children are closing down because we don’t have the funding to keep them open. Women often carry their children for hours to reach these facilities, only to be told that no assistance is available anymore.”

He also spoke of the impact on pregnant and breastfeeding women, whose nutritional needs are critical. “These women are sacrificing their own health to feed their children,” Aylieff said. “Many of them don’t know how to cope with the lack of food assistance.”

The consequences extend beyond immediate health concerns. In areas where WFP has had to cut support, families are resorting to desperate measures, including selling daughters into early marriage to secure food, pulling children out of school, and sending them to work. Aylieff reported an increasing number of distress and suicide calls from womenstruggling to feed their families.

Funding cuts have been a major driver of the crisis. While the international community provided “immensely generous” support in 2021 and 2022, donations have been steadily reduced. WFP’s funding of $600 million in 2024 was halved in 2025, leaving critical programs unable to meet the needs of the most vulnerable.

“In the next 12 months, if support doesn’t increase, we are going to see more women and children dying from hunger and malnutrition,” Aylieff warned. “The international community cannot turn away from the very people it pledged to protect. The situation is very harrowing.”

The WFP continues to provide food aid where possible, but the agency is urging renewed international attention and funding to prevent a full-blown humanitarian catastrophe.

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