Food security and COVID-19 in Afghanistan: a two-sided battlefront

• Published in: Tropical Medicine and Health
• Main Authors: Attaullah Ahmadi, Georges Gandour, Hujjatullah Ghaffari, Heba Sati, Anthony Abou Mrad, Serena Semaan, Yasir Ahmed Mohammed Elhadi, Sayed Hamid Mousavi, Shamim Arif, Shekiba Madadi, Don Eliseo Lucero-Prisno
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: BMC 2021
• Subjects: Food security; COVID-19; Pandemic; Challenges; Recommendations; Afghanistan; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Arctic; Spate
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1186/s41182-021-00370-8; https://doaj.org/article/2db82187e9104ce38b7238644d97e6d0

Abstract Food security is a major element for the sustainability, stability and development of a country. However, despite fundamental efforts in fighting poverty, Afghanistan continues to struggle with food insecurity with a large proportion of its population living below the poverty line. With extreme climates, protracted conflict, and now COVID-19, food insecurity has become rampant and is on the rise in the country. Efforts have been reinforced to mitigate this issue, but a spate of obstacles which seems not to come to an end, has contributed to the deterioration of the situation. With the collaboration and efforts of international organizations, there remains a glimmer of hope to potentially reduce the gravity of the food insecurity in the country. This paper aims to highlight the efforts of Afghanistan in alleviating food insecurity with a focus on the impact of COVID-19 on this issue. It also presents recommendations that may help ameliorate the country’s food security status during and after the pandemic.