Afghanistan is Hungry

Afghans are facing a devastating economic collapse and food shortages ahead of the holy month of Ramadan. And, the world largely seems to ignore the dire situation.

30-year-old Laila, a displaced person from the Ghorak district of Kandahar province, lives in a makeshift camp on the outskirts of Kandahar city with her two sons and her brother-in-law’s family. Laila’s husband fled to Iran five months ago in search of a job and he hasn’t been in contact with her since. Laila, who collects garbage and bottles from the streets, said she barely makes 30 Afghanis (35 cents) a day, not even enough to buy bread for her children.

Afghanistan has undergone a dramatic transformation since the Taliban took over last year. The country is struggling with the once aid-fueled economy, which is barreling toward collapse. More than half a million people in Afghanistan have lost their jobs since the Taliban takeover, according to a report released by the International Labor Organization in January 2022.

They are desperate for cash. They toil in mines that are deadlier than ever. Quite often, these mines collapse, killing all miners inside them. But, people still want to do this job as they have no other choice to feed their families.

Ever since the US and allied forces left the country, “Afghanistan has been gripped by a devastating economic crisis that has wiped out incomes, sent food prices soaring, and left millions hungry. Now, desperate to make ends meet, many Afghans are going to increasingly drastic lengths to survive.”, reports The New York Times.

The newspaper further states that “Families in rural areas have repaid debts with children they cannot afford to feed, selling them to better-off families or local bosses. In the northwestern city of Herat, men have sold their kidneys on the black market. And along the Iranian border, thousands looking for work abroad have endured brutal beatings by security forces.

So far, the world has largely ignored them. Various field journalists from Pakistan and other countries have reported that the Afghanis want the Muslim world to give them a helping hand so that they can overcome the poverty trap. But, despite donor conferences and charities working inside the country, not much has been done to improve the situation.