![]() 8 million people – over half of the Afghan population – are projected to be acutely food insecure in 2022, including 8.7 million at risk of famine-like conditions.If left unaddressed, the current humanitarian crisis could lead to more deaths than twenty years of war. Already undergoing one of the world’s most severe humanitarian disasters, worsening economic conditions are expected to further erode the population’s ability to meet its basic needs. Ninety-five percent of the population currently does not have enough to eat, and access to food is rapidly deteriorating. Extreme hunger acutely threatens the lives of millions of Afghans. This is providing additional job opportunities to benefit over 3,000 people.Afghanistan is in crisis. The ICRC is also currently implementing projects such as building a check dam and retaining walls and repairing irrigation canals in Kandahar, Herat, Baghlan and Balkh provinces. Besides, we supported 2,800 farmers' families through cash assistance for agricultural inputs and training in efficient farming methods in 2023. ![]() During the first half of 2023, the ICRC helped 933 families (7,455 people) earn an income through cash-for-work projects in Gulistan, Nader Shakor, Hesarak and Nawzad districts of Farah, Khost, Panjshir and Helmand provinces. Kayali explains that the ICRC takes a proactive approach in supporting communities by implementing cash-for-work construction projects to restore their livelihoods while protecting their land from erosion and maintaining a sustainable irrigation system. The ICRC's cash-for-work programme engages members of the community to build sustainable irrigation systems and protect their land while earning an income. According to some figures from the World Bank, one in every two people in Afghanistan is currently living in poverty and 15 million people in the country are suffering from food insecurity. Like Hazrat, a growing number of people are unable to find work, which in turn has severely impacted their purchasing power. While there has been significant reduction in fighting after August 2021 and the cost of staple foods has come down in comparison to 2022, the economy has witnessed a contraction of 25 per cent over the last two years. The anxiety and uncertainty on the faces of Hazrat and Khan reflect the severe economic crisis that people in the country are currently facing as a result of the compound impact of years of drought, natural disasters such as floods and earthquakes, the suspension of financial aid by international donors and sanctions imposed on banks. But there are many days when I don't make enough money to buy food for them," he says. I sit in my spot the whole day, be it hot or freezing cold, to somehow feed my family. ![]() Not too far from Hazrat sits 61-year-old Sayed Ali Khan, who works as a cobbler. "My family has been frequently going to bed on empty stomachs because I simply don't have the means to provide for them," says Hazrat. According to recent figures released by World Food Programme, the average cost of a food basket for Afghanistan is 6,300 AFN ($94) per month. Sitting by the roadside with his wheelbarrow, the 43-year-old says he manages to earn only about 100 to 150 Afghanis ($1.3 to $2.2) a day, which is not enough even to buy the bare essentials for his family. ![]()
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