A hard look at Afghanistan’s food and water shortage

By Owen Armentrout

September 10, 2025

Overhead view of Kabul, Afghanistan. Source: Suliman Sallehi 

For years now, millions of Afghans have been facing severe levels of food insecurity compounded by critical water scarcity, and despite improvements in the winter season of 2021-2022, the crisis has remained mostly stagnant.  

Brought on by drought, flashfloods, dependence on other nations and damage to infrastructure or lack thereof, this calamity is a Rubicon that can be crossed, but it will take a staggering amount of effort to reconcile.  

Water Scarcity 

Afghanistan has been in the midst of a crippling drought since 2021. As of March, it’s estimated that 33 million Afghans do not have reliable access to water, according to the Red Cross.  

In 2023, twenty-five out of 34 provinces in Afghanistan were experiencing drastic drought conditions, according to the UN. 

UNICEF has reported that 80% of Afghans drink from unsafe, unregulated sources, and 93% of children in Afghanistan reside in areas with high water vulnerability.

The primary source of water for Afghans is wells, of which there are over 310,000, according to Prevention Web. That being said, the Mercy Corps has reported that there are an additional 120,000 borewells in and surrounding Kabul alone. 

However, many of these wells have become unreliable. 

As of 2023, nearly half of Kabul’s borewells have run completely dry, while those that remain operable are deficient, retaining only 60% of their capacity, according to the UN. 

Not only that, but according to Al Jazeera, “Up to 80 percent of groundwater [in Kabul] is believed to be unsafe, with high levels of sewage, arsenic and salinity.” 

Furthermore, according to the UN, in early 2024, many of the country’s Northern and Eastern regions only experienced 45-60% of the average precipitation. 

The Mercy Corps said, “Kabul’s aquifer levels have plummeted 25-30 meters in the past decade, with extraction exceeding natural recharge by a staggering 44 million cubic meters annually.” 

It’s predicted that by 2030, Kabul may become the first major city in the world to completely deplete its water sources, leaving six-million people in dire need, according to the New York Times.

Although there have been initiatives to combat this nationwide issue. 

In 2024, the Red Cross said their efforts to rebuild infrastructure in urban areas such as Kabul, Harat, Kandahar, etc., had improved access to water for over 1.1 million people. Moreover, they repaired over 1,300 pumps and supplied villages with more than 1,800 sand filters, ultimately helping over 275,000 Afghans.

In May, the UN reported they had allocated the Afghan government $16.6 million to help attenuate the effects of the drought in the north and north-eastern regions.

Nevertheless, this scarcity has also proven detrimental in terms of the food supply. 

Food Insecurity 

Whether on the behalf of flashfloods, drought, earthquakes, poor infrastructure, etc., the fact is that according to Trading Economics, as of 2023, 45% of Afghans are employed in the agricultural sector, and these pitfalls have proven catastrophic to crop yield, further contributing to the dwindling food supply. 

According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, as of April, there are estimated to be 12.6 million Afghans experiencing high levels of food insecurity. For perspective, that’s over a quarter of the population. Of them, 10.6 million are classified as emergency cases, while 1.95 million are denoted in the crisis category.  

There are currently 4.7 million women and children in need of treatment for malnutrition, according to the World Food Program. UNICEF has stated that one-in-three adolescent girls in Afghanistan are anemic, and only 12% of children aged 6-24 months will receive the appropriate variety of nutrition for their age.

This issue has been exacerbated by recent earthquakes, which have put 37,000 children at even greater risk, according to Save the Children.  

The UN has stated that, “Desertification has affected more than 75 per cent of the total land area in the country’s northern, western and southern regions, reducing vegetation cover for pasture, accelerating land degradation and affecting crop farming in the last four decades.”  

Furthermore, according to the World Food Program, the organization was forced to cease the dispersal of aid in May due to funding shortfalls, further stating the organization would need to garner over $560 million to continue its efforts.  

However, UNICEF still provides aid; they’ve said as of 2024, they have provided over 62,000 families with micronutrient powder to combat malnutrition and that number has continued to rise into this year. They report that their organization is actively helping pregnant and lactating women as well as children in 34 regions. UNICEF stated that in total, they have helped over 630,000 children combat malnutrition in 2024 alone.