1. Home
  2. Asia
  3. Afghanistan

WFP says resources almost exhausted

World Food Programme (WFP) country director Gerard van Dijk said on Tuesday that resources for its regular life-saving distributions to drought-affected Afghanistan would be exhausted in less than four months unless further pledges were made available immediately. “We have 80,000 mt of wheat for projects we are currently committed to, and in November we distributed 28,000 mt. If we maintain the same wheat distribution in the coming months, our resources will be exhausted by the middle of March,” van Dijk told IRIN. “In light of this, we cannot freely commit ourselves to any additional projects for the future except those which target the most vulnerable, whose chances of surviving the winter is questionable,” he added. The UN estimates that more than half the Afghan population, or some 11 million people, are affected by food shortages, four million of them seriously so. Officials warn of possible widespread famine around May next year when village stores run out.

This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

Share this article

Get the day’s top headlines in your inbox every morning

Starting at just $5 a month, you can become a member of The New Humanitarian and receive our premium newsletter, DAWNS Digest.

DAWNS Digest has been the trusted essential morning read for global aid and foreign policy professionals for more than 10 years.

Government, media, global governance organisations, NGOs, academics, and more subscribe to DAWNS to receive the day’s top global headlines of news and analysis in their inboxes every weekday morning.

It’s the perfect way to start your day.

Become a member of The New Humanitarian today and you’ll automatically be subscribed to DAWNS Digest – free of charge.

Become a member of The New Humanitarian

Support our journalism and become more involved in our community. Help us deliver informative, accessible, independent journalism that you can trust and provides accountability to the millions of people affected by crises worldwide.

Join