In response to alarming new findings revealing that 90% of young children in Afghanistan are living in food poverty—and half in severe food poverty—UNICEF, with support from the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), is launching First Foods Afghanistan, a major multisectoral initiative aimed at transforming our approach to food and nutrition systems to improve the diets of children under two. 

“This is a crisis of silent suffering. Children in Afghanistan are not just malnourished—they are chronically deprived of the most basic building blocks of growth and development. Half of Afghan’s youngest children survive on just two food groups out of eight- day in day out. This puts them at high risk of malnutrition and even death, hence, to address malnutrition we should deliberately focus on improving the diets of young children in addition to services,” said Dr. Tajudeen Oyewale, UNICEF Representative in Afghanistan.

According to UNICEF’s 2025 Child Food Poverty Report, 3.5 million young children suffer from wasting, from which 1.4 million are at higher risk of mortality. Surprisingly, over 85% of these children are younger than 2 years of age.  Unfortunately, more than 2.1 million children under the age of five are in food poverty in Afghanistan, with 1.2 million trapped in severe food poverty. These children are 33% more likely to experience stunting and developmental delays. Afghanistan now ranks fourth globally in rates of severe child food poverty.