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Table 8.9: Average number of days of protein consumption in the household, by food consumption group
Food consumption Average number of days household consumed
group protein-foods during past 7 days
Meateggs Dairy product
Meateggs or Pulses
dairy product Total
1.3 2.4
3.3 1.3
Poor =28 0.4
0.2 0.6
0.5 Borderline 28 - 42
1.1 1.4
2.4 1.2
Acceptable 42 2.0
4.5 5.8
1.8
It should be emphasised that it is not possible to assess trend information for the FCS, although the FCS was reported in the NRVA 2011-12 report. This is due to substantial differences in the food
security module between the ALCS 2014 and the NRVA 2011-12 and the way the data for the FCS were collected. The data are therefore not comparable and the conclusion that the food security
situation has significantly deteriorated or improved on the basis of the FCS calculation is not valid. To allow trend analysis of the FCS it is recommended to include a standard FCS module in each ALCS
data collection round.
8.6.3 Household Hunger Scale HHS
46
The Household Hunger Scale HHS provides a comparable measure of food deprivation at the household level. According to this scale, 12.2 percent of households in the country experience
moderate or severe hunger, among them 1.4 percent have severe hunger. Deconstructing the scale indicates that 30 percent of households had at least one occasion during the past month that there was
no food of any kind in the house to eat due to lack of resources, 12 percent went to bed hungry and 6.5 percent went a whole day and night without any food to eat
Table 8.10
. There is a significant difference in the HHS between residence groups. More Kuchi households 15.4
percent reported to experience moderate to severe hunger than urban households 8.4 percent and rural households 13.6 percent.
The HHS outcome varies significantly between Afghanistan’s geographic regions. The west, north- east and south-west regions have the higher proportion of households with moderate to severe hunger.
The central highlands, however, has the highest level of severe hunger compared to other regions.
46
The Household Hunger Scale HHS is an alternative indicator that can be used to measure household hunger in food insecure areas. The HHS has been specifically developed and validated for cross-cultural use, which
means that the HHS produces valid and comparable results across cultures and settings. The scale uses three indicators of food deprivation and the frequency of occurrence during the past month prior to the survey: i no
food of any kind in the house to eat, ii going to sleep hungry because of lack of food, and iii going a whole day and night without food because of lack of food.
The frequency of occurrence is defined as ‘Never – 0 time’, and coded as 0, ‘Rarelysometimes – 1-10 times’,
and coded as 1 and ‘Often – more than 10 times’, and coded as 2. The total HHS score is the sum of scores of the three responses to these three questions, ranging from 0 to 6. The total HHS score is the basis for
categorising households with respect to household hunger into 3 groups: HHS score = 0- 1 indicating ‘No to
slight hunger’ in the household; HHS score = 2-3 indication ‘Moderate’ hunger in the household; and HHS score = 4-
6 indicating ‘Severe’ hunger in the household. For details on the HHS, see http:www.fantaproject.orgmonitoring-and-evaluationhousehold-hunger-scale-hhs
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Female-headed households are more likely to experience moderate to severe hunger than male-headed households 33 percent and 12 percent, respectively.
Table 8.10: Percentage of households, by Household Hunger Scale and HHS components, by residence and region in percentages
Residence and region Household Hunger Scale
At least once in past month and sex of household
Moderate Severe
no food of any went to bed
went a whole head
or severe hunger
kind to eat feeling hungry
day and night hunger
in household without any
food to eat National
12.2 1.4
29.9 12.0
6.5 Residence
Urban 7.4
0.8 27.6
6.1 3.0
Rural 13.6
1.6 30.5
13.8 7.5
Kuchi 15.4
1.9 32.6
14.9 9.0
Region Central
5.7 0.8
26.9 4.4
2.4 Central Highland
11.8 3.6
15.6 13.3
11.2 Eastern
12.5 1.0
25.2 12.8
7.2 North
6.5 0.3
32.0 8.1
2.9 North-east
18.2 1.7
31.4 22.4
11.5 South-east
5.6 0.3
31.0 5.1
1.5 South-west
14.5 0.7
19.7 14.4
11.3 West
26.2 2.7
54.0 19.5
7.0 Sex of household head
Male 12.0
1.4 29.6
11.9 6.4
Female 32.6
4.8 53.8
25.9 14.8
8.7 Coping with shocks
