Already pushed to their limit, families in Afghanistan are spending nearly all of their income on food. Amid persistent high food prices, average expenditure on food increased to 91 percent of income in July — a figure which has continually increased since January (80 percent). This leaves little left for other essential goods. While households across all divides are affected, female-headed households are especially vulnerable and are spending 95 percent of income on food, compared to 91 percent in male-headed households.
With incomes remaining in a precarious state, food could be pushed even further out of reach. Some six in ten households saw their incomes drop in July. This statistic is similar to that in June, but a deterioration compared to the four in ten households that saw a drop in income in April. Accordingly, more and more people have reported job losses and food prices as their top concerns in recent months.
Nearly half of the population is turning to drastic measures to put food on the table. Gradual improvements have been observed in the last five months; the proportion of the population relying on crisis coping strategies has since dropped from 68 percent in February to 48 percent in July this year. However, these levels remain over four times worse than pre-15 August 2021, and remain among the most severe globally.
| source, World Food Program, United Nations |