UN food agency official alarmed by Afghan food, fuel prices

An official with the U.N. food agency says that with Russia’s war in Ukraine taking an increasing toll on the global economy, the ripples of that conflict will further increase food and fuel prices in the desperately poor Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan -- An official with the U.N. food agency warned Friday that with Russia’s war in Ukraine taking an increasing toll on the global economy, the ripples of that conflict will further increase food and fuel prices in the desperately poor Afghanistan.

Since the Taliban takeover in mid-August, Afghanistan has been sinking deeper into poverty and economic crisis. As many as 95% of the country's 38 million people don’t have enough to eat or money to buy the food.

Shelley Thakral, a spokeswoman for the World Food Program, said that food prices in Afghanistan rose nearly 40% over the last eight months. The WFP has spent $1 billion feeding millions of Afghans this year but needs another $1.6 billion, Thakral added.

“The worrying thing, I think and this includes Afghanistan as well as all the other hunger spots across the world, is the rise in food and fuel prices,” said Thakral.