KABUL: Two years ago, five million people in Afghanistan lived in extreme poverty, but now the number has increased to nine million, a senior official said on Wednesday.

Salim Kunduzi, the deputy agriculture, irrigation and livestock minister, told a gathering to mark World Food Day that those people who did not have enough food and other basic daily necessities were considered the “extreme poor”.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation, (FAO), extreme poverty is measured by having none or less than five hectares of land.

Kunduzi said that the number of poor varied throughout the year, but always increased in the winter.

Recent floods across the country and in Pakistan have also contributed to the number of people in dire circumstances, he said.
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Marking the World Food Day in Kabul, the Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock Ministry, the World Food Programme (WFP) and the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) signed an agreement under the title “Stand United Against Hunger”.

According to FAO, 925 million people across the world are living in extreme poverty.

A FAO representative in Afghanistan, Tekeste Ghebray Tekie, said people who have no agriculture land or less than five hectares of land were living in extreme poverty in Afghanistan.