Child malnutrition has reached critical levels in a third of Afghanistan’s provinces and is expected to worsen as funding shortfalls force cuts in food distributions and other support, the U.N. World Food Program said Tuesday.
“We must act now to stem the rise in child deaths, which this crisis is provoking,” John Aylieff, WFP’s country director in Afghanistan, stated in a release, adding that “it is already too late for too many.”
WFP reported that 142 health centers closed in 2025 due to aid reductions, resulting in over 13,000 children losing access to nutrition treatment. The agency did not specify any particular donor, such as the United States, where the Trump administration implemented extensive cuts to foreign assistance.
WFP projects that nearly 3.7 million Afghan children will suffer from acute malnutrition this year, alongside 1.2 million pregnant and breastfeeding women.
The agency noted that 12 Afghan provinces have reached critical levels of acute child malnutrition, marking a record number. It attributed this situation to a combination of conflict, unemployment, increasing food prices, disease outbreaks, inadequate water and sanitation, and reduced humanitarian funding.
WFP stated that supply shortages stemming from Middle East conflict and the nine-month closure of Pakistan’s border due to neighboring fighting have disrupted deliveries of nutrition products, leaving nearly one million malnourished women and children without essential nutrition services for five months.
Furthermore, WFP indicated that food distributions intended to prevent famine in severely affected areas are being suspended from August through October because of insufficient funding, despite this period coinciding with the annual peak season for malnutrition between July and October.
The agency urgently requires $540 million over the subsequent six months.