Afghan child malnutrition hits record highs as aid cuts deepen crisis

The UN World Food Programme says child malnutrition has reached critical levels in a third of Afghanistan's provinces. Funding cuts, clinic closures and supply disruptions are leaving more children and women without treatment.

In Short

• Twelve Afghan provinces have recorded critical acute child malnutrition levels this year
• Around 3.7 million children and 1.2 million women need urgent nutrition support
• Aid reductions shut 142 health centres, cutting treatment access for children

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 UN World Food Programme said on Tuesday.

The agency said nearly 3.7 million Afghan children are projected to suffer from acute malnutrition this year, along with 1.2 million pregnant and breastfeeding women. It said 12 provinces have reached critical levels of acute child malnutrition, the highest number recorded in the country.

"We must act now to stem the rise in child deaths, which this crisis is provoking," John Aylieff, WFP's country director in Afghanistan, said in a statement, adding that "it is already too late for too many." Afghanistan is still recovering from decades of conflict and upheaval, including the chaotic withdrawal of US forces in 2021 as the Taliban took power.

Olga Cherevko, spokesperson for the UN humanitarian office in Afghanistan, said nutrition specialists reported that "wasting among children has worsened this year in over three-quarters of the country". Children suffering from wasting are acutely malnourished, become very thin for their height, and need immediate therapeutic feeding. But, she said, "too many children arrive at health facilities severely malnourished" while others never make it. Cherevko was speaking to reporters at UN headquarters by video from Afghanistan, where she has travelled across the country in recent months and weeks.

WFP said 142 health centres closed in 2025 because of aid reductions, and more than 13,000 children lost access to nutrition treatment. The agency did not mention any specific donor. It blamed the worsening situation on a combination of conflict, unemployment, rising food prices, disease outbreaks, poor water and sanitation, and reduced humanitarian funding.

The agency also said supply shortages linked to conflict in the Middle East and the nine-month closure of Pakistan's border because of fighting between the neighbours have disrupted deliveries of nutrition products. As a result, nearly one million malnourished women and children have been left without essential nutrition services for five months. WFP said food distributions aimed at preventing famine in the worst-hit areas will be suspended from August through October because of a lack of funding, even though the annual peak season for malnutrition falls between July and October. It said it urgently needs USD 540 million over the next six months.

Humanitarian groups in Afghanistan are already dealing with steep funding cuts. In February, Aylieff told The Associated Press that the cuts had been "devastating" and were forcing the agency to turn away three out of four acutely malnourished children. According to a recent WFP report, funding for food assistance has fallen by about 59 per cent since 2022, even as needs have risen sharply. In June, the US pledged USD 800 million to WFP, which said the money would help more than 38 million people in at least 37 countries.

Cherevko said the wider USD 1.71 billion humanitarian appeal for Afghanistan is just over 26 per cent funded, which is "alarming", especially as malnutrition and other indicators continue to worsen. Overall, the UN agencies said Afghanistan is facing a deepening malnutrition crisis, with fewer services, disrupted supplies and shrinking funds leaving more children and women at risk.

With PTI Inputs

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