Earlier this month, the U.N's World Food Programme (WFP) reported that the number of people living in near-famine conditions in Afghanistan had risen to 8.7 million — a growth of three million since earlier this year. The situation, which was already bleak, has been wildly exacerbated since the Taliban took control of the country in August.
Assistant Professor of Law at The American University of Afghanistan, Haroun Rahimi, tells VT that the famine and drought hitting the country would have been a long-term issue, but that we would not be seeing the scale of the crisis we are today if it weren't for the takeover.
"It's resulted in a situation that is very close to universal poverty," he says. "Afghanistan has defacto been cut off from the world both economically and politically."
As with any conflict, it is the civilians — but especially women and children — who are hit hardest. As such, reports of desperation are beginning to emerge; young girls are being sold into marriage to provide for their families, and amongst a population where children's growth is already likely to be stunted, the outlook is incredibly concerning.
Understanding the causes of the crisis
The reasons behind the current situation, while complex, are integral in understanding how to tackle the crisis, says Rahimi — an Afghan citizen, who is currently teaching in Rome.
First, he points to the withdrawal of international financial support following the Taliban's takeover. This has been underscored in recent weeks after the militant group announced that they are banning the use of foreign currencies; something that could further cripple an economy near collapse.
"All the funds that were allowing people to purchase necessities were coming from outside," Rahimi explains. "This would translate into people receiving salaries, renting their homes, and selling their goods and services to the government, locals, and tourists. Because that money is gone, people's ability to buy essentials has been dramatically curtailed."
The Taliban's rapid advancement also caused a disruption in supply chains. This is particularly disastrous as Afghanistan is a landlocked country, and is dependent on trade routes to import the majority of its consumption.
"You have to remember that the fighting got very, very intense towards the end," Rahimi adds. "A lot of people who would produce food for the country got displaced, so they can't attend to their harvest and farms. It may actually be worse than what transpired during the '90s when the Taliban first took over. Back then, Afghanistan was much more rural, and people had more access to land. The disruption we're seeing now is unprecedented."
Child malnourishment and problematic marriages
All of this is having a profound impact on the citizens of Afghanistan, who are struggling to find enough food to feed their families.
Recent reports have claimed that families facing acute food insecurity are being forced to make "devastating choices"; including marrying off their children, taking them out of education, or feeding them cactus, locusts, or wild leaves.
As Rahimi explains, Afghanistan already had a high rate of child mortality. "Families tend to be large, which means children are dependent on just one or two breadwinners. If those people lose their income, a large number of children are just not going to have enough food to eat.
"Now that this neo-universal poverty is happening so quickly, there's going to be a long-term effect from this. We're talking about a country that is going to have a very unhealthy population.
"And marrying off women and girls has always been a last resort when it comes to desperate families. Marriages involve a transfer of money from the groom's family to the brides'. If you've got nothing else to feed your children, you look into giving your girls into marriage, no matter how young they are."
This will naturally have an impact on mental health.
"Afghanistan has always had a high percentage of girls committing suicide — which is often due to domestic violence and problematic marriages," Rahimi says. This has, of course, been compounded following the Taliban's rule — which has seen them enact incredibly regressive changes, including barring women and girls from further education.
"Then there's the issue of extremism. If you have a country where everyone is in survival mode, they are easy prey to people who would want to mobilize them for their own goals. People want to live a life of purpose, so when you have unemployment on this level, people are likely to look to resource-rich militant groups like ISIS."
Empowering the Afghan people
Right now, Rahimi says that it's an "issue of time" — which the Afghan people do not have.
"Afghan currency is going through a very painful contraction. And getting food, medicine, and cash into the country are top priorities right now, and it requires coordinated attempts by the international community.
"The UN has never done anything on this scale before, and no one can work in Afghanistan because of the sanctions, including NGOs [Non-Governmental Organizations]. People are sounding the alarm, but reports on the ground suggest that not a lot is actually being done.
Rahimi questions: "Everything the Taliban are doing is wrong in terms of getting the Afghan people relief. But are we willing to let the population face the consequences of this because we don't want to look like we're supporting the current regime?" That seems to be the belief of many countries, it's disheartening to witness, and needs to be countered."
Still, despite the need to get food and aid into the country as quickly as possible, Rahimi stresses that this is just a quick fix. In order for the ongoing disaster to be diverted, he explains that the Afghan economy needs to be revived.
"We can't fix this just with aid. We can't have an entire country dependent on the food and medicine being provided by other countries. There has to be some form of economy in the country. That's what empowers people."