Millions of Afghans face hunger as aid cuts deepen a humanitarian crisis

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Rahimullah spends 10 hours a day selling socks from his car in east Kabul, earning about $4.5 to $6 a day. It’s a pittance, but it’s all he needs to feed his family of five.

Rahimullah, who goes by one name like many Afghans, is one of millions of Afghans in need of humanitarian aid. Afghan officials and from international aid organizations for survival. An estimated 22.9 million people – almost half the population – need assistance in 2025, the International Committee of the Red Cross said in an article published on its website on Monday.

But drastic cuts in international aid (including halting U.S. aid to programs such as food distribution run by the United Nations World Food Program) have severed that lifeline.

more than 17 million people Afghanistan face now crisis levels of hunger The World Food Program warned last week that more than 3 million more people are at risk in winter than a year ago.

The cut in aid comes as Afghanistan has been hit by a struggling economy, repeated droughts and two deadly incidents. earthquakes and mass influx Afghan refugees deported From countries like Iran Pakistan. The resulting multiple shocks put severe strain on resources, including shelter and food.

UN appeals for help

Tom Fletcher, The UN humanitarian chief told the Security Council in mid-December that the situation had worsened due to “overlapping shocks”. recent earthquakes and increasing restrictions on access to and personnel of humanitarian aid.

While Fletcher said about 22 million Afghans will need UN assistance in 2026, his organization will focus on the 3.9 million Afghans who need the most urgent life-saving assistance as donor contributions decline.

Fletcher said this winter was “the first winter in years where international food distribution has been virtually non-existent.”

“As a result, only 1 million of the most vulnerable people received food aid during the famine season in 2025, compared to 5.6 million last year,” he said.

This has been a devastating year for UN humanitarian agencies, which have been forced to lay off thousands of people and cut spending. aid cuts.

“We are grateful to all of you who continue to support Afghanistan. But as we look ahead to 2026, we face a further contraction of life-saving aid at a time of increasing food insecurity, health needs, pressure on essential services and protection risks,” Fletcher said.

returning refugees

Return of millions of refugees increased pressure on an already shaky system. Minister of Refugees and Return Affairs Abdul Kabir said on Sunday that 7.1 million Afghan refugees have returned to the country in the last four years, according to a statement on the ministry’s website.

Rahimullah, 29, was one of them. The former Afghan Army soldier fled to neighboring Pakistan after the Taliban seized power in 2021. He was sent back to Afghanistan two years later and initially received aid in the form of food and cash.

“The aid helped me a lot,” he said. But without it, “I no longer have enough money to get by. God forbid, if I were to face a serious illness or other problem, it would be very difficult for me because I do not have extra money for expenses.”

The massive influx of former refugees also caused rents to rise rapidly. Rahimullah’s landlord almost doubled the rent on his small two-room house, which has walls half concrete and half mud and a homemade mud stove for cooking. Now instead of 4,500 afghani (about $67), he wants 8,000 afghani (about $120), which Rahimullah cannot afford. So he, his wife, daughter and two young sons will have to move out next month. They don’t know where to go.

Before the Taliban took over, Rahimullah had a decent salary and his wife worked as a teacher. But the brutality of the new government restrictions on women and girls Meaning women are prohibited He works almost every job and his wife is unemployed.

Rahimullah said, “Currently, the situation is such that even if we find money for flour, we do not have money for oil, and even if we find money for oil, we cannot pay the rent. There is also an extra electricity bill.”

Harsh winters increase misery

Sherin Gül is in a desperate situation in the Badakhshan province in northern Afghanistan. In 2023, flour, oil, rice, beans, pulses, salt and biscuit materials were delivered to his family of 12 people. It was a lifesaver.

But this only lasted six months. There is nothing now. She said her husband is old and weak and cannot work. With 10 children, seven girls and three boys, aged between 7 and 27, the burden of providing for the family fell on the shoulders of his 23-year-old son, who was the only one old enough to work. But even he only finds work occasionally.

“There are 12 of us… and one working person can’t cover the expenses,” he said. “We are in great trouble.”

Sometimes neighbors take pity on them and give them food. Most of the time they all go hungry.

“There were times at night when we had nothing to eat, and my young children fell asleep without food,” Gul said. “I just gave them green tea and they cried themselves to sleep.”

Before the Taliban took over, Gul worked as a cleaner and earned enough to support her family. But the ban on women working left her unemployed, and she said she developed a nervous breakdown and was frequently ill.

The harsh cold of the northern Afghan winter further increases their misery. profit He stops construction work where his son could sometimes find work. There are also additional costs for firewood and coal.

Gül said, “If this situation continues like this, we may face severe hunger.” “And then it will be very difficult for us to survive in this cold weather.”

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Associated Press writers Farnoush Amiri at the United Nations, Jamey Keaten in Geneva and Elena Becatoros in Athens contributed to this report.