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Food crisis of epic proportions in Afghanistan

Despite bottlenecks, through its 300-member staff and NGOs, WFP was trying to stock up warehouses before the harsh winter blocked the roads in the country.

"The 22-year war and the worst drought to date has left an estimated 5.6 million people, nearly 25 per cent of the population, dependent on food aid," WFP official Khaled Mansour told PTI from Peshawar adding, "To tackle the unprecedented crisis, WFP is consolidating all its emergency operations into one and has launched a $257 million programme."

He said the programme includes a $27 million logistics operation to augment telecommunications and the UN's ability to deliver emergency aid through 190 trucks and air drops.

It was targeting to deliver 52,000 tonne food aid to six million people in Afghanistan in November apart from attending to the needs of 1.5 million refugees likely to flee to Pakistan, Iran, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan.

Hundreds of thousands of Afghans were fleeing urban areas because of food shortages and security reasons, increasing the number of internally displaced persons, despite not having the resources to leave their communities of origin.

WFP's own ability to deliver food had been severely constrained by Taleban restrictions, limited communication access and breakdown of local transport systems, he added.

Taleban's policy of restricting women's employment had made the situation even worse.

PTI

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