Indebted households Afghanistan - National Risk and Vulnerability Survey 2011-2012, Living Conditions Survey NRVA 2011 12 report
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CHALLENGES AND STRATEGIES
11.3 Household shocks and coping strategies 11.3.1 Household shocks
Like on previous occasions, the present NRVA investigated into the shocks experienced by households in the 12 months preceding the interview. Shocks are considered those events that have negative outcomes and that are outside the
direct control of households. These outcomes can be temporary and relatively mild, but they can also shake the very existence of the household and its members, for which no coping strategy can provide an adequate answer.
A basic distinction is made between generic shocks and idiosyncratic shocks. The irst relate to general occurrences that can possibly affect an entire community, like loods, livestock diseases, droughts or general insecurity, whereas
the second refer to events affecting speciic households or persons, such as the death of a household member, loss of employment or a burnt-down home. The box on household shocks below provides the classiication of speciic shocks
into larger categories.
2
A large majority of 84 percent of households reported the experience of any shock during the year before the survey, which is much more than in 2007-08 65 percent and 2005 45 percent Table 11.2. The overview of shocks experienced in
different years shows large luctuations, which partly describes the changing situation on the ground and probably partly also a changing perspective or reporting tendency. It can be observed that urban households are less exposed to most
shocks than rural and especially Kuchi households.
Household shocks
Insecurity: insecurity, violence and theft. Food and farm gate price: unusually high increases in food
prices, unusual decrease in farm gate prices. Epidemics: unusually high level of human disease.
Idios yncratic: bankruptcy of family business, serious illness or accident for working household member, death of a
working household member, death or illness of other household member, involuntary loss of house or land,
involuntary loss of livestock, loss of employment by a household member, reduced salary of a household
member. Drinking water: reduced drinking water quantity and quality.
Agri cultural: reduced agricultural water quality and quantity, unusually high level of crop pests and diseases, opium
eradication, abandoning opium cultivation, unusually high level of livestock diseases, reduced availability of grazing
areas, and reduced availability of Kuchi migration routes.
Natu ral disasters: earthquakes, landslides and avalanches, looding, late damaging frosts, heavy rains preventing work,
severe winter conditions and hailstorms.
2 For reasons of comparability the category of ‘inlux of returnee households’ is left aside. In 2011-12, 2.8 percent of households reported this as an event
that had negative consequences to them.
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CHALLENGES AND STRATEGIES
Table 11.2: Households, by experience of household shocks, and by survey year, residence in percentages
Survey year, residence
Generic shocks
Idiosyncratic shocks
Any shock Drinking
water Agricultural
Natural disaster
Security Food and
farm prices Epidemics
NRVA 2011-12 Urban
77 36
8 26
6 64
5 23
Rural 85
48 44
38 17
58 13
20 Kuchi
94 78
62 37
32 76
15 38
National 84
47 37
36 15
61 11
22 NRVA 2007-08
Urban 34
6 5
18 2
4 15
Rural 72
21 24
44 13
3 1
31 Kuchi
81 28
48 40
13 1
37 National
65 18
22 39
11 3
28 NRVA 2005
Urban 18
23 10
36 9
27 9
26 Rural
51 25
48 55
12 19
10 10
Kuchi 52
30 68
40 9
9 8
15 National
45 25
47 53
11 19
9 11
Particular rises were observed for shocks related to drinking water and food and farm gate prices. This may be related to the drought experienced in the northern provinces in 2011. Next to rise in food prices, the single shocks mentioned most
frequently by households were drinking water quantity 40 percent, drinking water quality 35 percent and agricultural water 26 percent data not shown. Figure 11.2 shows the percentage of households that were affected by drinking
water problems for each province. The belt of northern provinces stand out as a region that suffered drought in 2011. With respect to natural disasters, the most commonly encountered problems were severe winter conditions 26 percent,
looding 18 percent, late damaging frosts and heavy rains both 17 percent.
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CHALLENGES AND STRATEGIES
Figure 11.2: Percentage of households experiencing a drinking water shock in the year before the survey, by province
Actual experience of violence or insecurity occurred to one in seven households 15 percent, which is a slight increase from earlier NRVAs. This fairly corresponds with the rating by household members of the security situation in their district
of residence. The male and female household representatives reported in, respectively, 14 and 12 percent of the cases that the district they were living in was considered – moderately or very – insecure. The corresponding igures for –
moderately or very – secure districts were 78 percent for both male and female respondents, the remainder being not secure and not insecure. At province level Nooristan, Urozgan and Logar were rated as the most insecure provinces,
and Balkh and Panshjer as the most secure. Urban districts were generally rated as much more secure for around 94 percent of the households than rural districts for only 74 percent of the households. A majority of the respondents
around 78 percent was satisied with the performance of the police in the district in serving and protecting the people. However, around 10 percent was moderately or very dissatisied with the police conduct, around 3 percent in urban
areas and around 12 percent in rural areas. There is a strong correspondence between areas that are rated as secure and satisfaction with the police.