Canada announced Tuesday millions of dollars in aid for food assistance to drought-affected areas of in Afghanistan.

Ottawa said it was allocating CAN$13 million (US$12.6 million) for the World Food Program (WFP) to provide emergency food "to almost three million people in 14 northern and north eastern provinces of Afghanistan," International Cooperation Minister Bev Oda said in a statement.

The aid will buy food rations for 1.2 million people, as well as cash vouchers worth the equivalent value of 50 kilograms of wheat flour for six months for 42,000 families in urban areas.

Millions of Afghans are reportedly facing food shortages after one of the worst droughts to strike the north of war-torn Afghanistan in a decade.

A news article posted on WFP's website describes children being treated for malnourishment, wells having dried up and families selling off domestic animals at cut-rate prices before migrating to cities to find food, water and work.

Oda said aid agencies are racing to help them before snow blocks access to the remote areas.