'Afghanistan on Brink of Famine, Aid Agency Warns', The National Post, 16 December 2008
EXCERPT: "Foreign aid organizations say food shortages and early snows may leave eight million Afghans -- 30% of the population -- on the brink of starvation this winter. Famine could easily overtake violence as the country's top problem. 'The current situation is extremely fragile,' said Susannah Nicol, a spokeswoman for the World Food Program(WFP) in Kabul. Soaring world food prices, drought and increased insecurity from a growing Taliban threat are taking their toll. 'This year people are paying on average 1½ times as much as they were in December, 2007,' Ms. Nicol said. 'An average household in 2005 was spending about 56% of their income on food. That figure has risen to 85%.' With winter settling in early, the WFP has rushed 36,000 tonnes of food--enough to feed 950,000 people -- to areas that are normally inaccessible during the winter because of heavy snow. But international aid agencies still estimate five to 10 million Afghans out of a population of 26.6 million might not have access to enough food before the winter is out."
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See also:
'Financial crisis pushing hungry to wall, WFP says', Reuters Africa, 16 December 2008
'World Food Programme in plea for $5.2bn', Financial Times, 15 December 2008
Related posts:
'Winter of hunger looms in Afghanistan', 27 November 2008
'Pakistan looting stops food aid convoys to Afghanistan', 14 November 2008
'Afghan famine poses greater risk than Taliban', 30 October 2008
'War and drought threaten Afghan food supply', 19 September 2008
