Source: Save the Children New Zealand
More than 300,000 additional children in Afghanistan are expected to need treatment for acute malnutrition in 2027, as aid cuts continue to strain health and nutrition services, Save the Children said.
New analysis from global hunger monitor, Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), [https://www.ipcinfo.org/fileadmin/user_upload/ipcinfo/docs/IPC_Afghanistan_AFI_AMN_Sep2026_Sep2027_Snapshot.pdf] warned 4.04 million children under five will need acute malnutrition treatment between January and December 2027, a 9% rise compared to the same period in 2026. Cases of severe acute malnutrition are expected to increase 16% to nearly 1.1 million children next year, from 942,000 in 2026.
This new analysis reports the highest acute malnutrition levels ever recorded in Afghanistan for the period, according to the IPC.
About 15.9 million people, or 32% of the population analysed, are now in Crisis or worse levels of hunger (IPC Phase 3 or above), according to the IPC. This includes 3.4 million facing emergency levels of hunger (Phase 4) – one step away from IPC Phase 5, the highest level of acute food insecurity, which can include famine.
The upcoming winter lean season is expected to make hunger conditions worse, as farm activity and jobs dry up, and harsh weather cuts access to remote areas. Between November 2026 and April 2027, 19.2 million people – including about 10 million children – are projected to be in Phase 3 or above, about 3.3 million more people than now, according to the IPC.
Hunger in the country is deepening despite improved rainfall and a strong harvest. Declining humanitarian assistance, weak purchasing power, and unemployment are leaving many households without knowing where their next meal will come from.
Mirwais-, 25, and Asma-, 23, are constantly moving with their three children in search of work and water. The family struggles to afford food, and Asma and 18-month-old Somaya- have both been treated for acute malnutrition at a Save the Children clinic.
“The drought has made our situation much worse over the past several years. We depend on farming for our livelihood, but this year everything dried up,” Mirwais said.
“If this clinic were not here, we would face many challenges. In the past, we had to borrow money to travel to the city for treatment. Given our financial situation, those expenses were a heavy burden on our family.”
Due to a lack of funding, 40 Save the Children health facilities, including health and nutrition clinics and mobile health teams, are at risk of closure this year. These clinics and health teams operate in some of the most remote and hardest to reach parts of Afghanistan, some in places where there are no other services available for communities, including maternal and newborn care.
Ashish Damle, Country Director, Save the Children in Afghanistan said:
“Afghanistan is in the grip of a deadly hunger crisis and there is no end in sight. Needs are soaring while critical funding is running dry. Winter is just weeks away, and for children already battling acute malnutrition, the cold will make survival even harder.
“Our doctors and nurses witness the devastating consequences of the hunger crisis every day: malnourished children arriving at our clinics, mothers going hungry so their families have something to eat, and parents desperately seeking help as their children’s health deteriorates. No parent should have to watch their child suffer from a treatable condition simply because the care they need is out of reach.
“Behind every aid cut is another essential service at risk of closing, and another family left to face hunger and winter alone. There is no quick fix for a crisis of this magnitude, but there are immediate steps we can take to prevent further suffering. Governments and donors must act now to protect essential health and nutrition services before even more children are left without the treatment they urgently need.”
Save the Children has launched Nourished Futures, a $300 million global humanitarian nutrition initiative for 2026-2028 bringing together public and private funders to treat and prevent child malnutrition and illness in the toughest humanitarian contexts. Partners joining this initiative are helping reshape the future of humanitarian nutrition, redesigning together the way the world treats malnutrition – from a reactive system focused on treating crisis to one that prevents it.
Save the Children has been working in Afghanistan since 1976, including through periods of conflict, displacement and natural disasters. We currently run programmes in nine provinces and work with partners across an additional 11 provinces, delivering services in health, nutrition, education, child protection, shelter, water, sanitation, hygiene and livelihoods. Last year we reached more than 2 million people, nearly half children. Nearly 5,000 children were successfully treated for severe acute malnutrition, and 1.4 million people received outpatient consultations in our clinics.
Multimedia content: www.contenthubsavethechildren.org/Package/2O4M1T7TOL4 [http://www.contenthubsavethechildren.org/Package/2O4M1T7TOL4]
– Denotes name changed to protect identity
* [1] The IPC Acute Food Insecurity scale was introduced in Afghanistan in August 2011 and led by FAO through the Food Security and Agriculture Cluster (FSAC). Since 2012, the country has been conducting IPC Acute Food Insecurity analyses in all 34 provinces once a year. More information: https://www.ipcinfo.org/ipcinfo-website/where-what/asia/afghanistan/en/ [https://www.ipcinfo.org/ipcinfo-website/where-what/asia/afghanistan/en/]
Captions: CH264063_Doctor Hakim measures Somaya’s mid-upper arm circumference during a nutrition assessment.jpg – Doctor Hakim measures Somaya’s mid-upper arm circumference during a nutrition assessment. Additional content available here www.contenthubsavethechildren.org/Package/2O4M1T7TOL4 CH264057_Somaya (18 month) and her family travel by animals to reach a Save the Children-supported health facility.jpg – Somaya (18 month) and her family travel by animals to reach a Save the Children-supported health facility. Additional content available here www.contenthubsavethechildren.org/Package/2O4M1T7TOL4 CH264091_Somaya (18 months) and her parents on their way to a Save the Children-supported health facility.JPG – Somaya (18 months) and her parents on their way to a Save the Children-supported health facility. Additional content available here www.contenthubsavethechildren.org/Package/2O4M1T7TOL4