Why It Matters
Afghanistan is facing one of the most severe nutrition crises in the world. According to UNICEF, nearly half of all Afghan children under five suffer from chronic malnutrition, known as stunting. This silent emergency limits children’s potential before they even have a chance to thrive. Even mild cases can cause irreversible damage to brain development, impairing a child’s ability to learn, grow, and contribute to their community.
Acute malnutrition, which can quickly become life-threatening, affects an estimated 875,000 Afghan children each year. In some provinces, over 70% of young children are chronically undernourished.
Malnutrition is rarely caused by lack of food alone. Poverty, conflict, inadequate healthcare, and limited access to clean water all create a cycle of deprivation that endangers Afghanistan’s next generation.
Addressing malnutrition is not only a moral imperative; it is vital to the future of the nation. A well-nourished child is more likely to complete their education, support a healthy family, and help rebuild a stronger Afghanistan. Every meal we provide is an investment in peace, resilience, and hope for the future.
What We Plan to Do
Barakat Nutrition is preparing to launch a locally rooted, large-scale initiative to produce Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF), a soft, nutrient-rich nut paste that requires no preparation or refrigeration. RUTF is a proven solution for treating severe acute malnutrition. It works remarkably well, restoring a child’s strength, supporting weight gain, and reversing the most dangerous effects of malnutrition in just a matter of weeks.
Our future facility will be based in Kabul, where we plan to manufacture RUTF following WHO and UNICEF guidelines. By producing directly inside Afghanistan, we can respond faster to local needs, reduce reliance on imports, and bring life-saving treatment closer to the communities that need it most.
................
We aim to source ingredients from Afghan farmers whenever possible, so that in nourishing children, we also strengthen the families and communities that raise them.
................
More than treating individual cases, our vision is to help Afghan communities build lasting systems of nourishment so they can identify, access, and deliver what children need to grow strong, healthy, and full of promise.
AI & Innovation
We believe the future of childhood malnutrition response will be shaped by innovation, especially in artificial intelligence. That’s why we are building Barakat Nutrition with a long-term vision: to become a platform for tech-enabled transformation.
Our founders bring extensive experience in launching successful technology companies and maintain close relationships with some of the largest and most influential tech firms in the world. As we establish Barakat Nutrition, we are laying the groundwork for future partnerships with leading U.S.-based AI and tech companies to design smart systems for diagnosis, distribution, and impact monitoring, tools that may not even exist yet, but which we are actively preparing for.
From predictive analytics to mobile diagnostics, we envision an Afghan-led system powered by global innovation, one that ensures the right resources reach the right child, at the right time. Technology will strengthen, not replace, the human networks that form the heart of lasting change.
