Children in Afghanistan face the threat of death from starvation

More than 75 percent of children in Afghanistan are eating less than a year ago as the country faces soaring poverty and hunger two years since the Taliban regained control.

The country’s worst drought in 30 years has caused crops to fail, livestock to die and put food and water further out of reach for children and their families.

More than a third (38.4%) of children surveyed by Save the Children have been pushed into work to help their families cope, the new analysis revealed. 

“Children in Afghanistan are facing the threat of death from starvation and dangerous labour, and families are taking desperate measures to survive," explains Gwen Hines, Chief Executive at Save the Children, adding that the UK government’s decision to more than halve its funding for the country this year "is a tragic blow to their hopes and dreams. It is a betrayal of everything Britain should stand for and it breaks the UK’s promise to ‘leave no one behind.’" 

"Children are being forced into dangerous labour, with staff from the children’s charity reporting that one girl was crushed to death by a truck as she was smuggling goods over a border crossing"

The survey of households in six provinces laid bare the escalating needs resulting from a deadly mix of poverty, climate change and the legacy of conflict after millions have been deprived of food aid due to cuts in international funding.

Children are being forced into dangerous labour, with staff from the children’s charity reporting that one girl was crushed to death by a truck as she was smuggling goods over a border crossing.

Sajida*, 31, and her family in northern Afghanistan have been badly hit by the drought and economic crisis. Two of her children, eight-month-old twins Nahida* and Nadira*, have been diagnosed with severe acute malnutrition, which can be deadly, and are receiving treatment at a mobile health clinic run by Save the Children. Sajida wishes she could feed her children potatoes, fruit and meat, but they can only afford rice.

“We don’t have water in our village. We go to another village and use donkeys to bring water back here. There are long queues [of people] waiting for water," Sajida said. "All the farmers pray for rain, but this year they are hopeless. They think the drought will destroy normal life here.”

She added: “My children come and say to me: “Mum, we don’t want to eat boiled rice. Give us potato fries.” But with teary eyes, I say: “I wish we had potatoes in the kitchen, but the only food I can cook is boiled rice.”

“They are very young, and they don’t know what it means to be poor and not have money to buy potatoes. I feel bad seeing the condition of my children. I can’t give them a good life, not even a portion of good food.”

Afghanistan is one of the world’s starkest illustrations of the deadly toll the climate crisis is taking on families who depend on agriculture to survive. The country is now facing its third consecutive year of drought, which is affecting more than half the population. 

"Hunger not only has a serious impact on children’s physical health but also on mental health, creating anxiety and depression"

Levels of hunger are higher in northern Afghanistan, where families rely heavily on farming. Hunger not only has a serious impact on children’s physical health but also on mental health, creating anxiety and depression.

Women and girls are at the sharp end, with more than twice as many female-headed households living with severe hunger as male-headed households and 17% more girls than boys are eating less than they were last year.

Shabana*, 28, and her husband are struggling to make ends meet for their six children, five of whom are blind. Some days they survive on plain rice while they are often forced to skip meals altogether.

"I worry about my children and have anxiety about where or how we will get our next meal," Shabana said. "It’s really hard to take care of my children’s needs because five of them are blind. They have severe disabilities and I struggle to cope.

“I can’t see a way forward. I feel trapped. When there is no work for my husband, then my children go hungry. I feel helpless and I have no hope that things will change, but I stay strong because my children need me."

Adding further to the woes of Afghan people, a large-scale plague of locusts have ravaged Afghanistan’s northern provinces.

The locust outbreak has come at the worst possible time for the people of Afghanistan, where some 15.3 million people – one-third of the population – are projected to face crisis levels of hunger over the next five months, including 3.2 million children.

The outbreak of the Moroccan Locust, one of the world’s most damaging plant pests, has affected eight of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces.

The locusts have the potential to destroy 1.2 million tons of wheat, approximately one-quarter of the country's annual harvest at a cost of $480 million.

"The outbreak of the Moroccan Locust, one of the world’s most damaging plant pests, has affected eight of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces"

Without an urgent injection of funding, the country could spiral into famine-like conditions.  Aid organisations are facing a $2.2 billion shortfall in humanitarian funding to support Afghanistan's most vulnerable children and families, especially women and girls.

Arshad Malik, Country Director for Save the Children in Afghanistan, said: “Two years since the Taliban regained control in Afghanistan, conditions for children and their families are abysmal. What we are seeing is a perfect storm of the climate crisis, poverty and the legacy of conflict inflicting hunger, malnutrition and misery on people who have done nothing to contribute to any of these conditions.

“We hope that the international community, which has significantly cut funding to critical food aid across Afghanistan, will rethink this isolationist approach, remember the millions of innocent children whose lives are in jeopardy, and stop punishing them for decisions they have had nothing to do with.”

*Names changed for security reasons