Faced with the prospect of malnutrition and starvation, some Afghans are selling their livestock, fleeing to Iran or Turkey, or forcing their children into work, according to anecdotal reports. One story recounted by Afghanistan's World Food Programme country director included a father who sold his kidney for $1,850 in order to pay for food for his children.
Date: 2/25
Region: Europe & Central Asia
Country: Afghanistan
Topic: Food & Farming
Policy Lens: Global Health Security
Entry Type: Secondary Effect
Additional Context: This information was collected as part of The Aid Report's original reporting found in the Devex featured article "Afghans ‘desperate’ as aid cuts bring mass hunger crisis." Our journalist reports that as the snow cuts off highland communities in Afghanistan, aid workers say many won’t be alive once it melts.
Over 17.4 million people are estimated to require food assistance this winter — among the highest numbers ever recorded in Afghanistan — and the food parcels and cash assistance that once came from aid organizations are now scarce following foreign aid budget cuts. The WFP and other NGOs have typically delivered food aid ahead of the colder weather and heavy snowfall. But this year, a lack of resources has prevented WFP from reaching some remote mountain communities.
Source: Devex