‘One step away from famine’: Inside Afghanistan’s hunger crisis — UN News

Following extreme hunger warnings, a bitter reality is unfolding across Afghanistan: food is available, but remains inaccessible for millions of people. That’s according to UN aid coordination office spokesperson Olga Cherevko, who has just returned from a field visit with a stark call to action. Nearly 16 million Afghans are facing crisis-level hunger – some 3.4 million of them living in emergency conditions, said Ms. Cherevko, briefing from Kabul on Tuesday. “I want to start with something that can get lost when we talk about Afghanistan through numbers: a harvest can improve, markets can have food, but families can still go hungry,” she said, calling it “one of the clearest takeaways” from her recent visits to southern and northeastern Afghanistan. Ms. Cherevko called for immediate and sustained action to help the people of Afghanistan “before families have exhausted their options”. Record acute malnutrition levels for the August-October period have seen hunger levels grow for millions of Afghans, according to the latest findings from the UN-supported global food security monitor, or IPC. The situation is poised to worsen, Ms. Cherevko said. “I saw first-hand that this crisis is not simply about whether food exists, but whether people can afford it, whether they can earn an income, access basic services or whether they have anything left to fall back on when the…