OREANDA-NEWS. More than half of the population of Afghanistan will face a «crisis» or «emergency» level of food shortage during the winter of 2021-2022. Drought, armed conflict, the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic crisis had a negative impact on Afghan's access to food, the authors of the joint report of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the UN World Food Program (WFP) said. The data of the report is published on the FAO website.

The authors of the report emphasize that the number of Afghan residents on the verge of starvation has increased by 37% compared to April of this year. By the end of the year, about 3.2 million children under the age of five may suffer from acute malnutrition, and about 1 million of them may die if they are not urgently provided with the necessary assistance. The approaching winter may cut off families in need from humanitarian aid.

«We can't feed people with promises: financial commitments must turn into real money, and the international community must come together to solve this crisis, which is rapidly spiraling out of control», said WFP Executive Director David Beazley.

To provide assistance to the population of Afghanistan, about $220 million per month may be required. FAO claims that it will provide assistance to more than 3.5 million people this year and that it needs $11.4 million for urgent assistance to the people of Afghanistan and $200 million for the 2022 agricultural season.