WFP warns Afghan malnutrition rates at record high

Kabul, Jan 28 (Prensa Latina) Malnutrition rates in Afghanistan are at record highs with half the country enduring severe hunger throughout the year, a spokesman for the UN World Food Program (WFP) said.

January 28, 2023
08:02

Half of Afghanistan endures severe hunger throughout the year, regardless of the season, and malnutrition rates are at a record high for Afghanistan, said Phillipe Kropf, a spokesperson for the UN food agency in Kabul.

There are four million children (under the age of 5) and mothers who are malnourished, in a country with a population of 40 million.

At least 162 people died from extreme cold this month in Afghanistan, in the worst winter the country can remember in more than a decade, said Disaster Management Ministry spokesman Shafiullah Rahimi.

Afghanistan’s coldest winter in 15 years has recorded temperatures as low as -34oC amid an unprecedented severe economic and humanitarian crisis.

Recurrent natural disasters, chronic poverty and diseases, including Covid-19, along with the blockade of banking assets by the United States and other Western countries increased poverty in Afghanistan.

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