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

United Nations News
Oct 20, 2026

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


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”.