Afghan families on brink of starvation as Taliban takeover completes one year

  24 August 2022    Read: 623
Afghan families on brink of starvation as Taliban takeover completes one year

Many are on the brink of starvation amid the strict regime and the worst drought in 30 years.

World Vision New Zealand national director Grant Bayldon said Afghanistan was now likely the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

"[Years of drought] mean crops have failed and then with the Ukraine crisis going on, it's meaning that the price of grain and getting it into Afghanistan has skyrocketed. People have less money and food is more expensive," he said.

The average household income was just $1 per day.

More than 800 Afghan parents, caregivers, and children were surveyed for the report across four provinces - with over half the children classed as acutely malnourished.

"What it means is children don't have enough nutrition to be able to be healthy, to be able to grow, to be able to sustain themselves. Many of those families will be approaching starvation or acute hunger," Bayldon explained.

Some parents faced the horrendous decision of marrying off their children to survive.

"If they can marry a child to a family that can afford to feed that child, then it's one less mouth to feed. Also, in some circumstances, there's some kind of dowry or payment that comes with the marriage for the child which can help parents to feed their remaining children."


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