Sources of food items by main income source Sources of food items by season

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8.5 Food access and supply

8.5.1 Sources of food items by population group and food security status When considering food sources, since the major staple food across most parts of Afghanistan is cereals, sources of cereals are used as a measure of where households mainly obtain their food. Across all households, 76 percent depend on cereal purchases, 23 percent use their own production as their main source, while only one percent relies on battering, gift or charity, or food aid. Nearly all urban households and 90 percent of Kuchi households depend on purchases for cereals, as compared to about 75 percent of rural households. The proportion of urban and Kuchi households dependent on food purchases increases relatively with the improvement in their food security. On the contrary, food secure households in rural areas depend less on food purchases than food insecure households. Gift, charity or food aid as sources of cereals is reported only in a negligible proportion 1 percent or below among food insecure households in rural and urban areas Figure 8.3 . Figure 8.3: Households, by residence, food security status, and by source of cereals in percentages

8.5.2 Sources of food items by main income source

The sources of cereals vary with livelihood type. Across all livelihood groups, purchases on cash or credit or own production is the most important sources of cereals 78 percent and 21 percent, respectively. Battering, gift or charity and food aid are negligibly reported at just 1 percent altogether. Gift, charity and food aid is more pronounced in households dependent on Zakat and carpet weaving as a main income source, while battering is more reported among households producing and selling opium. As expected, households whose main income source comes from production and sale of crops or opium get a relatively larger proportion of their cereals from their own production 57 percent and 54 percent 96 98 97 80 74 66 90 94 84 79 76 1 1 3 18 25 33 10 5 14 20 23 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Severely food insecure Moderately food insecure Food secure Severely food insecure Moderately food insecure Food secure Severely food insecure Moderately food insecure Food secure Severely food insecure Moderately food insecure Food secure Ur b an R u ral Ku ch i Nati o n al Purchase Own production Bartering, gift or aid 127 of households, respectively. However, 42 percent of these households still depend on the market for the balance of their cereal needs. Purchases from markets are the main source of cereals of the majority of households 80 percent and above engaged in production and manufacturing, services, trade, farm and non-farm wage labors, borrowing and rental income.

8.5.3 Sources of food items by season

Within the year of 2014, sources of cereals vary slightly and purchases remain the main source of around 77 percent of the households across all populations groups. Own production is the second source of cereals for 22 percent of the households. For the urban households, purchases remain high at 97 percent of the households all year round and does not significantly vary by season. Among the Kuchi households, about 8 percent depend on their own production in summer June – September, but purchases are the main source of cereals for the autumn months September – December. In rural areas, about 30 percent of households depend on their own production for their cereals throughout the year, and around 70 percent depend on purchases. The proportion of households dependent on purchases in rural areas slightly increases from 66 percent in winter December 2013 - March 2014 to 72 percent in spring March-June 2014 and summer June-September 2014.

8.6 Food consumption