Afghanistan and South Sudan Face Deepening Hunger Crises as Aid Funding Falls
Afghanistan and South Sudan Face Deepening Hunger Crises as Aid Funding Falls
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Afghanistan and South Sudan are among the countries facing severe hunger emergencies as humanitarian agencies warn that millions of people risk losing access to food and nutrition support without urgent international assistance.
In Afghanistan, the World Food Programme says 17.4 million people require urgent food assistance, including 4.7 million facing emergency levels of hunger. The agency also projects that nearly 4.9 million women and children will need treatment for malnutrition in 2026, the highest level recorded in the country.
WFP says Afghanistan’s crisis is being driven by persistent drought, economic distress, forced returns, earthquakes, shrinking aid, and displacement linked to border tensions. The agency says it urgently needs $313 million for operations from March to August 2026, but current funding allows it to reach only a fraction of those in need.
Reuters has also reported that Afghanistan launched a $100 million food-security programme supported by the United Nations and the Asian Development Bank to help more than 151,000 families, including returnees from Iran and Pakistan and people affected by earthquakes and floods.
In South Sudan, UN agencies warn that the hunger crisis has intensified sharply. The latest IPC analysis says 7.8 million people are expected to face high levels of acute food insecurity between April and July 2026, including 73,300 people in Catastrophe conditions and 2.5 million in Emergency conditions.
UN agencies also report that 2.2 million children in South Sudan are suffering from acute malnutrition, while nearly 700,000 children are at risk of severe acute malnutrition, the deadliest form.
Similar emergencies are affecting other countries, including Sudan, where nearly 19.5 million people are facing crisis levels of acute food insecurity and about 135,000 are in Catastrophe conditions across several hotspots.
