Child Malnutrition Reaches Critical Levels in Third of Afghanistan as UN Food Program Faces Funding Cuts

Aug 4, 2026

A severe child malnutrition crisis is escalating in Afghanistan, with acute wasting reaching critical levels in 12 provinces. The UN World Food Programme (WFP) warns that funding cuts have forced the closure of 142 health centers and suspended famine-prevention food distributions. WFP Country Director John Aylieff reports that the agency can only feed one in seven malnourished women and children, turning away the rest empty-handed. WFP urgently requests $540 million to sustain its operations over the next six months.

Child malnutrition crisis

▪Acute child malnutrition has reached critical levels in one-third of Afghanistan's provinces, affecting 12 provinces including Helmand, Kandahar, Baghlan, Daikundi, Ghor, Faryab, Paktika, and Logar.
▪An estimated 3.7 million Afghan children and 1.2 million pregnant and breastfeeding women are projected to suffer from acute malnutrition in 2026.
▪Child food insecurity in Afghanistan rose to affect 47% of the population during the first quarter of 2026.
▪Children under the age of two make up 80% of the most severe acute malnutrition cases in Afghanistan.

Family poverty testimonies

▪An Afghan mother named Farida relies on a local clinic for medicine and nutrition to treat her two anemic children, whom she feeds a diet of bread and tea.
▪An Afghan mother named Sediqa collects World Food Programme nutritional supplements for her two malnourished daughters, aged 3 years and 18 months, at a health center in southern Afghanistan.

WFP nutritional support programs

▪The World Food Programme requires $540 million over the next six months to maintain emergency food assistance and nutrition operations in Afghanistan.
▪The World Food Programme has suspended food distributions aimed at preventing famine in the worst-hit areas of Afghanistan from August through October 2026 due to lack of funding.
▪The World Food Programme is currently able to feed only one in seven acutely malnourished women and children in Afghanistan, turning away six out of seven empty-handed.

Humanitarian funding cuts

▪Funding for food assistance in Afghanistan has dropped by approximately 59% since 2022, while the broader $1.71 billion humanitarian appeal for the country is just over 26% funded.
▪The United States and several European countries have cut funding to the World Food Programme's Afghanistan operations since January 2025.

Health center service disruptions

▪During 2025, funding cuts forced the closure of 142 health facilities providing nutrition support in Afghanistan, causing over 13,000 children to lose access to therapeutic feeding.
▪A nine-month closure of the Pakistan border and conflict in the Middle East disrupted supply chains, leaving nearly one million Afghan mothers and children without essential nutrition services for five months.