Parwana Malik, nine years old, is being sold by her parents to a foreigner who the youngster calls an "old man" due to his white beard and eyebrows.
On the day Parwana was taken away by her 55-year-old buyer, Qorban, her tearful father, Abdul Malik, begged him not to abuse his child, reports CNN.
Abdul, who is "broken" with guilt, broke down in tears as he told Qorban: "This is your bride. Please take care of her. You are responsible now, please don't beat her."
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Parwana's family said they had no alternative and are among numbers of poor families who are being forced to sell their young daughters into marriage to survive as Afghanistan dives further into a humanitarian crisis.
One girl, aged 10, spends her days crying as she waits for the day she is sold to a 70-year-old man to help her family pay off their debts.
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Another nine-member family is preparing to sell their four-year-old and nine-year-old daughters to have enough money to live from.
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Parwana and her family have been living in an Afghan displacement camp in northwestern Badghis province for the past four years. They have lived off humanitarian aid and work which gets them around £2 a day.
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But since the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August, the country's economy is on the verge of a breakdown and international humanitarian aid has been put on hold. The effects are profoundly felt by families such as Parwana's who cannot purchase basic goods such as food.
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Abdul was required to trade Parwana's 12-year-old sister months ago to help his family live.
Parwana, her small head covered by her pale pink hijab, told CNN: "My father has sold me because we don't have bread, rice or flour. He has sold me to an old man."
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Her father Abdul said he is "broken" with guilt at the sale of his daughter and is incapable of sleeping at night.
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He told the news outlet he had searched unsuccessfully for work and borrowed money from relatives. His wife plead to other camp residents for food, but nothing worked.
Abdul, who felt he had no choice but to sell Parwana to help his family survive, said: "We are eight family members. I have to sell to keep other family members alive."
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