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7 FOOD SECURITY
SUMMARY. A high proportion of Afghanistan’s 27 million people face chronic and transitory food insecurity. Food insecurity
based on calorie consumption
1
is estimated at 30.1 percent, comparable to the 28.2 percent measured by NRVA 2007-08. Of the 7.6 million food-insecure people, an estimated 2.2 million or 8.5 percent are
very severely, 2.4 million 9.5 percent severely, and 3.1 million 12.2 percent moderately food insecure. The proportion of food insecurity increased in urban and to lower extent in rural populations, whereas
it slightly improved among the Kuchi compared to 2007-08. Food insecurity has increased in urban areas from 28.3 percent in 2007-08 to 34.4 percent 1.7 million people in 2011-12. In rural areas, an
estimated 29.0 percent 5.2 million people are food insecure. The Kuchi population is slightly but not signiicantly better off compared to the rural and urban, with 25.6 percent or about 350 thousand being
food insecure. Food insecurity is mainly attributed to households’ lack of access to sustainable income. The diet of the Afghan population is not only quantitatively inadequate, but also qualitatively poor and
heavily cereal-based. In total, 19.4 percent of the Afghan population or 4.9 million people do not consume adequate protein of at least 50 grams per person per day from the available food basket. Among them, 4.7
million people or 62 percent of the 7.6 million food-insecure people with calorie deiciency are deicient in both calories and protein. Inadequate protein and calorie consumption at household level will particularly
affect nearly a million under-ive children who are likely to be vulnerable to malnutrition.
7.1 Introduction
Food security exists when all people, at all times have physical, social and economic access to suficient, safe and nutritious food for a healthy and active life. In this report, households that meet a minimum of 2,100 calories per person
per day are considered as food secure. In the NRVA 2011-12, data were collected on household expenditure, quantities and type of foods, and number of days certain foods are consumed over a seven-day recall period, throughout the
survey period. This information allows a calculation of household food security, based on kilocalorie Kcals intake data.
2
Furthermore, thresholds of calorie consumption are used to categorize the severity of food insecurity in 5 groups from very severely food insecure to food secure see Table 7.1.
Table 7.1: Levels of food security
Level of food security Kcal intake per person per day
Very severely food insecure Less than 1,500
Severely food insecure 1,500 to 1,799
Moderately food insecure 1,800 to 2,099
Borderline 2,100 to 2,399
Food secure 2,400 and more
This chapter is divided into eight sections. Following this introduction; section 7.2 describes the overall current food security situation, in terms of the number and percentage of the food-insecure among urban, rural and Kuchi populations;
section 7.3 gives an indicative comparison of the food security situation of the NRVA 2011-12 with NRVA 2007-08; section 7.4 presents characteristics of food-insecure households; section 7.5 describes the impact of seasonality on
food security; section 7.6 describes access and supply; section 7.7 provides information about dietary diversity and the calculation of the Food Consumption Score; whilst section 7.8 outlines coping mechanisms generally adopted by
surveyed households.
1 Excluding Helmand and Khost provinces due to lack of reliable data on food security. 2 Adjusted for age, sex and additional caloric requirements during the winter period.
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7.2 Current food security
Table 7.2 shows that food-insecure households are distributed across all population groups of Afghanistan.
Overall, an estimated 7.6 million people or 30.1 percent of the Afghan population are very severely to moderately
food insecure. Of these, 2.2 million people or 8.5 percent are very severely food insecure, as they consume on
average less than 1,500 Kcal per person per day. In relative terms, more urban households, including the peri-urban population, are food-insecure than their rural and Kuchi counterparts. A total of 34.4 percent of the urban population are
food insecure compared to 29.1 percent of the rural population and 25.6 percent of the Kuchi population. However, in terms of absolute numbers, there are more food-insecure people 5.2 million living in rural areas, where 72 percent of
the country’s population resides, excluding the 5 percent Kuchi population. The Kuchi are slightly but not signiicantly better off compared to the rural and urban populations. An estimated 350 thousand Kuchi and1.7 million urban residents
are deined as food insecure.
Table 7.2: Population with types of food deiciency, by residence
Residence Calorie deiciency
food insecure Protein deiciency
Calorie and protein deiciency
Millions Percentage
Millions Percentage
Millions Percentage
Urban 1.7
34.4 1.3
21.3 1.2
20.3 Rural
5.2 29.1
3.4 19.1
3.3 18.2
Kuchi 0.4
25.6 0.2
15.3 0.2
14.5 National
7.6 30.1
4.9 19.4
4.7 18.5
The majority of people facing caloric deiciency are also affected by inadequate protein consumption
3
across all population groups. In total, 4.9 million people or 19 percent of the Afghan population do not meet the daily protein requirement of
at least 50 grams per person per day from the available food basket. Among them, 4.7 million are facing both calorie and protein deiciency. Inadequate protein consumption will particularly affect children under ive years of age, who
account for 21 percent of the surveyed population under the NRVA analysis. This means at least 1.5 million under-ive children reside in food insecure households, of which more than 900 thousand children are living in households where
the consumption of protein and calories are both inadequate, and hence, they are likely to be vulnerable to malnutrition.
By population group, 1.3 million or 21 percent of the urban population are protein deicient. Among the 2.1 million urban food-insecure people, 1.2 million face both protein and caloric deiciency. For rural areas, 3.4 million or 19 percent of
the rural population are protein deicient. Among the 5.2 million rural food-insecure people, 3.3 million face both protein and caloric deiciency. The Kuchi population has a better protein consumption with some 0.2 million or 15 percent
facing protein deiciency, and almost all of these show both protein and calorie deiciency.
3 Protein thresholds applied for calculating protein deiciency were: ‘Very severe deicit’ is considered as 50 of protein requirement consumption
25gramsper personday; ‘Severe deicit’ is of 25 to 50 of protein requirement consumption of 25 to 37.5gpersonday; ‘Moderate deicit’ of 25 of requirement consumption of 37.5 to 50 gpersonday and ‘Acceptable’ consumption ≥ 50 grams per person per day.
MDG Indicator 1.9
Percentage of population below minimum level of dietary energy consumption
30.1
