Afghanistan continues to face worsening acute malnutrition and food insecurity, with the current analysis reporting the highest acute malnutrition levels ever recorded for the August–October period.

Economic pressures are straining households nationwide, contributing to more than15.9 million people (32 percent of the population) facing IPC Acute Food Insecurity (AFI) Phase 3 or above (Crisis or worse), including 3.4 million people experiencing Emergency (IPC AFI Phase 4) conditions. Although improved rainfall and better agricultural production have supported food availability, declining humanitarian assistance is reducing households’ ability to cope. The situation is expected to worsen from November 2026–April 2027 during the winter lean season. Nearly 19.2 million people (38 percent) are projected to be in AFI Phase 3 or above, including 5 million people in AFI Phase 4.

Acute malnutrition is also set to worsen significantly, with 4.04 million children aged 6–59 months projected to need treatment between January and December 2027. This deterioration is driven by disease outbreaks and inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) conditions, compounded by sharply reduced access to nutrition services.