Afghanistan’s Child Malnutrition Worsens Amid Climate Shocks, Returnees and Funding Gaps

An estimated 3.7 million children in Afghanistan are classified as wasting, and roughly one million are in the most severe acute form that threatens survival. UNICEF notes that children under two account for 83 % of severe acute malnutrition cases. The surge follows successive years of drought, heavy rainfall and flash floods, conditions expected to intensify under the current record‑strength El Niño. At the same time, regional instability has disrupted cross‑border trade, while more than six million people have returned to the country since 2023, adding pressure to already strained food supplies and public services.

Health facilities, especially in the south, are now seeing three to four severely malnourished children for each vacant bed. Between July 2025 and July 2026, admissions for severe acute malnutrition with medical complications rose from 6,000 to 8,000, a one‑third increase. UNICEF‑trained health workers continue to identify children in remote villages and refer them to hospitals where therapeutic milk can stabilise their condition. A recent case involved a nine‑month‑old girl from a flood‑affected province who arrived weighing only 4 kg; after receiving therapeutic milk, she began to gain weight and her health improved, illustrating the life‑saving potential of timely treatment.

UNICEF’s nutrition programme has received only 22 % of the $180 million it requires for 2026. The shortfall has forced the closure of more than 100 treatment sites this year compared with 2025, concentrating demand on the remaining centres. Families are forced to rely on minimal meals such as bread with tea or watered‑down yoghurt, increasing the risk that more children will slide into severe acute malnutrition. UNICEF stresses that early intervention is far more cost‑effective than emergency hospital care for children who have already become critically thin.