A humanitarian emergency in Afghanistan has intensified as food supplies run out, clinics report mass malnutrition and the World Food Programme (WFP) says more than 12 million people are now facing acute hunger. Aid workers in the western city of Herat describe crowded corridors of women with severely malnourished children and mounting distress among families who are being turned away for lack of food.
Supplies cut by regional and maritime disruptions
The WFP’s country director, who took up the post in May 2025, says the crisis has been driven by a sequence of natural disasters and economic shocks — including a drought, earthquakes and flash floods — leaving Afghanistan with the highest levels of malnutrition ever recorded. The situation worsened after two critical supply routes were closed: the border with Pakistan and, in February, a disruption at a key chokepoint in the Strait of Hormuz.
These interruptions have had an immediate operational impact. Staff report that, for the last three months, humanitarian centres have had to turn away everyone in need because there was no food to give.
Women and children hit hardest; distress calls surge
The WFP runs a hotline for concerns and complaints that receives around 140,000 calls a year. Between June and December last year the organisation recorded a 60% rise in distress calls from Afghan women. Many callers describe extreme desperation; some are contemplating suicide.
"She had been skipping meals to feed her children, but they were still going to bed hungry,"
The quoted case came from an operator on the hotline who spoke with a woman planning to take her own life — a stark example of the psychological toll on caregivers forced into impossible choices to try to feed their families.
- 12 million people estimated in acute hunger.
- 140,000 hotline calls received annually by the WFP in Afghanistan.
- 60% rise in distress calls from women between June and December last year.
Operational limits and human consequences
Staff on the ground describe the emotional strain of denying assistance. Health clinics — already treating large numbers of malnourished children — are now overwhelmed. The WFP country director, who has worked in Afghanistan for some time and arrived for this posting in May 2025, stresses that the combined effect of climate shocks, economic stagnation and the loss of transport routes has pushed communities to the brink.
The director’s account emphasises two linked dynamics: the scale of need, measured in millions deprived of sufficient food, and the erosion of the humanitarian system’s ability to respond because of logistical bottlenecks and dwindling supplies. The most vulnerable — particularly women and children — bear the heaviest burden.
| Indicator | Value |
|---|---|
| People in acute hunger | 12 million |
| Annual hotline calls | 140,000 |
| Increase in distress calls (Jun–Dec) | 60% |
Humanitarian responders warn that, if supply lines are not restored and resources replenished, the scale of suffering will deepen. The WFP’s accounts suggest a twofold challenge: procuring and moving sufficient food into the country, and preventing the social and mental-health fallout among caregivers who are exhausted by the demands of feeding growing numbers of hungry children.
International attention will be critical. The loss of a major overland link through Pakistan and the disruption at the Strait of Hormuz show how external factors beyond Afghanistan’s borders can instantly amplify domestic vulnerability. Restoring logistic routes and ensuring predictable funding and supplies would be essential first steps if agencies are to resume operations that have already been suspended.
For now, clinicians in Herat and across the country continue to confront heartbreaking scenes and difficult decisions as families queue for aid that is not there. The WFP’s testimony is a reminder that the crisis is both immediate and systemic: a combination of natural disasters, economic strain and geopolitical chokepoints that, together, are producing some of the gravest humanitarian indicators seen in years.
