Afghanistan, U.N. ask for $400 million in food aid

Afghan and U.N. officials on Wednesday urged the international community to contribute over $404 million to feed the country’s poor and vulnerable, Reuters reported the same day.

The article notes that Afghanistan has been “hit hard by rising food prices, poor harvests and drought,” adding that the country’s “wheat harvest this year is expected to be 36 percent lower than 2007.”

“We really appeal to donors to continue their generosity and support of the Afghan people because really, through no fault of the people or the government, the situation has really become exacerbated since January,” U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator in Afghanistan Bo Asplund told a news conference in Kabul attended by diplomats and donors.

In May, Afghanistan received international pledges amounting to some $20 billion in development aid, but officials say much of that money has already been put into long-term agricultural investment. The new appeal is intended for more short-term needs.

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