UN Agency: Food prices will rise in price in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — One of the repercussions of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and its impact on the global economy will be the increase in food and fuel in Afghanistan, a UN food agency official warned on Friday.

Since the Taliban took control in mid-August, Afghanistan has plunged deeper into poverty and economic crisis. Up to 95% of the country's 38 million inhabitants lack enough food or money to buy it.

Shelly Thakral, spokeswoman for the World Food Programme, said that food prices in Afghanistan increased by almost 40% in the last eight months. The agency has invested $1 billion to feed millions of Afghans this year, but it needs another $1.6 billion, Thakral added.

“What is worrying, and I think this includes Afghanistan and other hungry places around the world, is the rise in food and fuel prices,” Thakral said.

So far, donor countries have not marginalized Afghanistan, but said they “need to dig deeper” as Europe deals with the repercussions after more than 3 million refugees have left Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion on February 24.

The head of the UN refugee agency, Filippo Grandi, warned during a visit to Kabul on Tuesday that the war in Ukraine could take away funds for the humanitarian crisis elsewhere, including Afghanistan, and that skyrocketing food prices could affect humanitarian efforts.

Although the majority of wheat supplies to Afghanistan came from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, Thakral indicated that the increase in food and fuel costs due to the war could increase the costs of providing humanitarian assistance by an additional 20 per cent.