Deadline: 07-Jun-2026
The World Food Programme (WFP) is seeking implementing partners to deliver urgent food assistance and emergency response support in northeastern Afghanistan, particularly in Takhar, Baghlan, Kunduz, and Badakhshan provinces. The programme addresses severe food insecurity, malnutrition, displacement, and humanitarian emergencies affecting vulnerable populations.
The initiative focuses on targeted food and cash assistance, contingency response mechanisms, hotspot monitoring, and rapid humanitarian support for women, children, and persons with disabilities.
Programme Overview
The programme is implemented by the World Food Programme to respond to escalating humanitarian needs in the Faizabad region and surrounding provinces of northeastern Afghanistan.
Target provinces include:
- Takhar
- Baghlan
- Kunduz
- Badakhshan
The intervention addresses overlapping crises including:
- Conflict and displacement
- Severe food insecurity
- Economic collapse
- Drought and climate shocks
- Rising malnutrition
- Limited humanitarian access
Key Focus Areas
The programme supports activities related to:
- Emergency food assistance
- Cash-based humanitarian support
- Food security interventions
- Malnutrition prevention
- Humanitarian contingency response
- Disaster and conflict response
- Early warning systems
- Hotspot identification and monitoring
- Support for vulnerable households
- Assistance for women, children, and persons with disabilities
Humanitarian Context
Afghanistan is experiencing a severe hunger and humanitarian crisis.
Current challenges include:
- One in three people requiring urgent food assistance
- Widespread emergency-level food insecurity
- Increasing acute malnutrition among children
- Forced displacement due to conflict and disasters
- Economic hardship limiting access to food and services
Due to funding limitations, the programme prioritizes targeted assistance for the most vulnerable households.
Programme Objectives
The initiative aims to:
- Deliver rapid food and cash assistance
- Identify and support high-risk households
- Improve emergency preparedness and response capacity
- Strengthen hotspot monitoring systems
- Reduce the impact of acute food insecurity and malnutrition
- Ensure assistance reaches the most vulnerable populations
Target Beneficiaries
Priority groups include:
- Severely food-insecure households
- Mothers and children at risk of malnutrition
- Conflict-displaced families
- Disaster-affected households
- Returnees and vulnerable populations
- Persons with disabilities
Food Assistance Component
Selected implementing partners will provide:
- Three months of food assistance
- Support at 50% ration levels for targeted households
- Food or cash-based assistance depending on local conditions
The programme uses vulnerability targeting systems to prioritize assistance.
Contingency Response Component
The contingency mechanism supports rapid response to:
- Earthquakes
- Floods
- Conflict displacement
- Sudden humanitarian shocks
- Returnee influxes
Affected households will receive:
- Two months of full-ration food or cash support
Early Warning & Hotspot Monitoring
The programme requires:
- Hotspot analysis every two months
- Early warning data collection and assessment
- Identification of high-risk communities
- Rapid deployment planning based on evolving risks
Implementing Partner Expectations
Partners are expected to:
- Maintain emergency response readiness
- Rapidly mobilize humanitarian assistance
- Ensure accurate targeting of vulnerable populations
- Deliver timely food or cash support
- Coordinate with WFP systems and reporting requirements
- Support monitoring and accountability processes
Eligible Activities
Potential interventions may include:
- Food distribution operations
- Cash transfer programming
- Emergency logistics and contingency planning
- Community-level vulnerability assessments
- Nutrition-sensitive assistance activities
- Emergency preparedness coordination
Evaluation Priorities
Applications are likely assessed based on:
- Humanitarian response capacity
- Experience in food security and emergency response
- Ability to operate in high-risk areas
- Targeting and accountability systems
- Coordination and logistical readiness
- Capacity to support vulnerable populations effectively
Why This Programme Matters
The programme helps address one of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises by ensuring life-saving assistance reaches vulnerable communities in Afghanistan.
It supports:
- Immediate hunger relief
- Emergency humanitarian response capacity
- Malnutrition prevention efforts
- Protection of vulnerable households
- Faster disaster and conflict response systems
- Improved humanitarian targeting and preparedness
Conclusion
The World Food Programme’s emergency response initiative in northeastern Afghanistan supports urgent food assistance, contingency response, and hotspot monitoring in provinces facing severe humanitarian pressures. Through targeted food and cash interventions, the programme aims to protect vulnerable populations from worsening hunger, displacement, and crisis-related shocks.
For more information, visit UN Partner Portal.