KABUL, 12 June 2008 (IRIN) - High food prices and drought have driven over one million vulnerable people across Afghanistan into “high-risk” food-insecurity in the past five months, increasing the total number of “most vulnerable people” to over 3.5 million, the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL), told IRIN.

A joint vulnerability assessment conducted by UN agencies and Afghan governmental bodies in December 2007 identified 2.55 million Afghans (out of a total population of some 26 million) as being in need of an emergency “safety net” and severely affected by high food prices.

Since January, food has become unaffordable for thousands of vulnerable households. Afghanistan was ranked the fifth least developed country in the world in 2007.

“We estimate that now over 3.5 million people are seriously food-insecure and in need of a safety net,” said Saduddin Safi, head of the department of food-security at the MAIL.

“High prices, drought and conflict are three major causes of the worsening food-insecurity,” Safi said.