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Nine in 10 Afghans are not consuming enough food: World Food Programme

WION Web Team
NEW DELHIUpdated: Sep 10, 2021, 06:54 PM IST
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File photo Photograph:(AFP)

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Ninety-three percent of Afghans do not eat enough food, World Food Programme says. Food insecurity affects 14 million people, including 550,000 displaced by conflict. Natural calamities such as floods, droughts and avalanches harm an average of 250,000 people each year.

The UN World Food Programme has warned that the combined effects of war and drought linked to global warming have put 9 in 10 Afghans at risk of severe or acute hunger.

"93% of Afghans do not eat enough food because they use coping techniques like skipping meals or cutting quantities," a World Food Programme official stated. 

Over half of the country's population is poor, and food insecurity is on the rise, owing in part to conflict and insecurity isolating entire areas from economic prospects.

Food insecurity affects 14 million people, including 550,000 people who have been displaced by conflict since the beginning of the year. 

Wheat production has fallen 40 per cent after one of the driest periods in almost 30 years.

Women, children, displaced people, returnees, women-headed families, people with disabilities, and the destitute are all at risk of malnutrition.

Despite recent progress, undernutrition rates are currently on the rise, with 2 million children suffering from malnutrition.

A wide range of natural calamities, such as floods, droughts, avalanches, landslides, and earthquakes, harm an average of 250,000 people each year.

Disasters and reliance on rain or snowmelt for water severely limit the agricultural sector's production, which offers a source of income for 44 percent of the population. 

(With inputs from agencies)