Winter Looms Over Afghanistan’s Triple Crisis: Hunger, Animal Disease, and Resource Shortages

Winter Looms Over Afghanistan’s Triple Crisis: Hunger, Animal Disease, and Resource Shortages
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Afghanistan is facing a convergence of humanitarian emergencies: millions of people face severe winter hunger, and more than 21 million sheep and goats are at risk from a deadly livestock disease, while aid organisations warn of a looming collapse in food assistance.

More details in the following report:

The World Food Programme (WFP) has stated that a large number of Afghan mothers and children are now facing extreme hunger ahead of the winter season, Khaama Press reported. According to the WFP’s June 2025 briefing, roughly 15 million people are under urgent food‑insecurity measures, with only about one third receiving sufficient assistance.

Funding shortfalls have forced the agency to scale back nutrition treatment and assistance programmes, and female‑headed households are especially vulnerable.

Simultaneously, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has warned that the highly contagious “Peste des Petits Ruminants” (PPR) virus threatens over 21 million goats and sheep throughout the country.

With herding communities already under strain from drought, pasture loss and economic disruption, large‑scale livestock losses could deepen both food insecurity and rural poverty. A vaccination campaign backed by the Asian Development Bank and the UK is under way, but gaps in resources and access remain major obstacles.

With cold weather approaching, aid agencies warn that the combination of malnutrition, livestock collapse and dwindling assistance could trigger a humanitarian catastrophe. Afghanistan’s fragile economy and remaining infrastructure threaten to magnify the impact of both human and animal crises. The WFP warns that without additional funding and effective access, “millions more could slip into emergency hunger.”

Both WFP and FAO are calling for urgent international support, improved humanitarian access, and strengthened veterinary disease control. They emphasize that preventing livestock losses and maintaining food supply chains are critical to averting deeper crisis this winter.

Afghanistan now stands at a critical juncture: without coordinated relief efforts, the country may face not one—but multiple—interlinked emergencies of hunger, economic collapse and animal disease.