An Afghan burqa-clad woman sits next to food aid distributed by a local charity foundation in Mazar-i-Sharif. (AFP)
Geneva: The number of people facing acute food security in Afghanistan is set to rise to 19.2 million during the winter lean season between November and April, the United Nations said Tuesday, October 20, 2026.
"The number facing acute food insecurity is projected to rise to 19.2 million, of which five million are expected to face emergency levels of hunger," which is "one step away from famine", Olga Cherevko, the Afghanistan spokeswoman for the UN humanitarian agency OCHA, told a press briefing in Geneva.
