KABUL -- Gulbar, a 25-year-old mother of five from Herat, Afghanistan, says she is willing to sell her newborn daughter because she cannot afford to feed her.
"My husband is a day laborer and only makes 1,000 afghanis ($11) per month. Everything is so expensive these days," she said. "How do I feed my five children? Even my breasts have run dry and I have no more milk left in me. I will sell my newborn if anyone is interested in buying."
Food inflation is hitting consumers around the world, driven by supply chain disruptions and the war between Russia and Ukraine, both of which are key wheat exporters. But millions of Afghans -- already left destitute by war, drought and economic decline since the Taliban's takeover last August -- have no capacity to absorb the impact.
As prices soar, an estimated 22.8 million Afghans are starving. "High prices of commodities compounded by reduced incomes for 97% of the total population have negatively affected the purchasing power of people," according to the latest report from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) initiative, comprising United Nations agencies and other parties.
Although the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization's Food Price Index declined modestly for the second month in a row in May, it remained elevated, up 22.8% from the pervious year. A U.N. news release said that more than 1 million children in Afghanistan face severe malnutrition this year, nearly double the number in 2018.
"Prices are rising every week, if not every day," said a 34-year-old teacher at a Kabul private school, who preferred not to be named. She is the only breadwinner for her family of five, earning 10,000 afghanis a month. "It is impossible to manage a rental home with three children on a single income. The days when I am not able to buy anything, we either sleep on an empty stomach or just eat bread with some tea."
Local news agency Khama Press reported that food prices in Afghanistan have nearly doubled in the last three months. A sack of flour that cost around 1,400 afghanis previously is now priced at more than 2,800 afghanis.
"Our sales have decreased because people don't have the money to buy these expensive food items," said Fawad, a shopkeeper in Kabul's Kote Sangi district.
Sellers believe that the food inflation is due to a lack of price regulation in the marketplace. Officials blame it on the West.
"The problem of food inflation is due to economic pressures put on us by the West by freezing our assets and imposing sanctions on us," said Abdul Latif Nazari, the Taliban's deputy minister of economy.
After the Taliban took control of Afghanistan last August, the U.S. froze nearly $10 billion in Afghan assets and suspended developmental assistance, contributing to the country's economic collapse. In February, the Joe Biden administration unfroze $7 billion, saying about half would go toward relief inside the country, while the rest would be reserved for litigation related to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Meanwhile, the U.N. last year launched a campaign to mitigate famine by rolling out accelerated emergency food programs, which fed millions following the country's political transition. However, agencies are struggling to keep pace with the rapidly worsening conditions and increase in global food prices.
The IPC predicts that humanitarian food assistance at the household level will reach just 8% of the population in the June-November period, versus 38% in the current period, due to a lack of funding. It said only $601 million of the needed $4.4 billion in aid had been received.
Afghan families collect rations distributed by the World Food Programme in Herat city. (Photo by Kanika Gupta) Farid Senzai, professor of political science and Middle Eastern politics at Santa Clara University, said the problems go beyond insufficient funding, including a liquidity crunch.
"The severe restrictions imposed on Afghanistan have affected the Afghans' ability to access cash. Additionally, the $3.5 billion that the U.S. seized from the central bank has also made access to cash more difficult," he said, referring to the money reserved for 9/11 victims. "As such, it complicates the country's economy and affects its ability to function more efficiently."
Asked about solutions, Nazari, the deputy economy minister, said the Taliban has a three-step plan.
"Firstly, we want to attract national and international investments to the country. Bringing more investments will generate more jobs that will help improve the people's economic situation," he said. "Secondly, we want to build an infrastructure of self-sufficiency and bolster our domestic economy by increasing production so that we don't have to rely on anyone else. Thirdly, we want to increase humanitarian aid as a short-term solution."
Nazari said the Taliban aims to "do that by engaging more countries who have good relations" with the emirate. "It will help us provide some relaxation to the people."
For now, Afghans fear the worst for themselves and their families.
"Some nights, I don't have anything for my kids to eat," said the Kabul teacher. "As a parent, I feel helpless and sleepless, thinking what will happen to our family."