Afghanistan Excluded From US Famine Reports, Raising Food Aid Concerns
The removal of Afghanistan from reports by the U.S. Famine Early Warning Systems Network has heightened concerns that documenting food insecurity and assessing the risk of famine in the country will become more difficult, as millions of people in Afghanistan continue to face a food crisis.
Jeremy Konyndyk, president of Refugees International and a former U.S. Agency for International Development official, called the decision worrying and criticised the growing politicisation of famine analysis. He said that halting reporting on Afghanistan, Somalia and Yemen could make it harder to document food insecurity and famine conditions.
Afghanistan, Somalia and Yemen were excluded this summer from the network’s annual report, the Peak Food Assistance Needs Outlook, as well as its monthly Food Assistance Outlook report. The move has drawn criticism from experts and humanitarian organisations, given the severe food needs in these countries.
The U.S. State Department initially neither confirmed nor denied the changes to the network’s reports, but later said public reports on Afghanistan, Somalia and Yemen would be republished from September. The department also said it is reviewing how the programme’s limited resources are being used and how closely the network’s activities align with U.S. foreign policy priorities.
Experts say the issue is even more significant for Afghanistan because U.S. humanitarian aid to the country has also been cancelled and the food crisis remains unresolved. In such a situation, a reduction or suspension in the publication of specialised reports could also affect food aid planning.
The Famine Early Warning Systems Network was established in 1985 by the U.S. Agency for International Development and now operates under the State Department. Using meteorological, agricultural, economic and conflict-related data, it assesses trends in food insecurity and the risk of escalation in the months ahead.
