Food production and consumption in Bamyan Province, Afghanistan: the challenges of sustainability and seasonality for dietary diversity

Figures & data

Table 1. Selected key indicators of nutrition and development in Afghanistan.

Population	Per cent
Per cent <15 years	47.7
Per cent >65 years	2.7
Average household size	7.7
Agricultural landholdings: mean size ()	Jeribs (0.2 ha)
Owned irrigated land	4.9
Owned rain-fed land	12.1
Owned garden plot	1.9
Food security: population with	Per cent
Calorie deficiency	30.1
Protein deficiency	19.4
Calorie and protein deficiency	18.5
Literacy: adults >15 years	34.8
Households	Per cent
With improved drinking water sources	63.9
Using solid fuels	75.0
In communities with distance to nearest drivable road of 2 km or less	63.1
Communications	Number
Mobile cellular subscriptions per 100 inhabitants	43.3
Internet users per 100 population	3.9

Source: Summarized from CSO (2018, pp. IV–VII).

Table 2. Dietary diversity score (DDS) (mean) and percentage of households with low dietary diversity.

Population	DDS (mean)	Low dietary diversity (per cent)	By food consumption score group (per cent)
			Poor <28	Borderline 28–42	Acceptable >42
Urban	5.8	18.2	8.6	30.9	60.5
Rural	4.8	40.6	25.1	32.1	42.9
Kuchi	5.0	33.4	11.9	34.2	53.9
Selected province
Bamyan	3.5	73.5	47.1	36.7	16.2
Region
Central	5.8	18.4	7.4	29.1	63.4
Central Highland	3.9	62.8	41.9	26.6	31.4
Eastern	5.7	18.6	5.9	39.4	54.7
North	4.7	44.1	27.0	28.9	44.1
North-East	4.1	61.6	46.8	23.8	29.4
South-East	5.1	32.9	28.4	57.0	14.6
South-West	5.5	17.7	6.0	44.4	49.6
West	5.3	25.1	6.4	32.0	61.5

Source: Summarized from CSO (2018, pp. 130, 131), and authors’ elaboration. Statistics population weighted.

Figure 1. Bamyan, Afghanistan. Source: authors.

Figure 2. The villages. Source: authors.

Table 3. Afghan and Western months.

Afghan	Western	Afghan	Western
Dalwa	January–February	Asad	July–August
Hoot	February–March	Sonbula	August–September
Hamal	March–April	Mizaan	September–October
Sawer	April–May	Aqrab	October–November
Jawza	May–June	Qaws	November–December
Saratan	June–July	Jadi	December–January

Source: Own elaboration.

Table 4. Geography of study villages.

Village	Case	Altitude (masl)	Distance to market (km)
Jawzari	1	2912	20
Jawzari	2	2977	20
Qabrezaghak	3	2833	18
Garmbolaq	4	3016	20
Sorkhaktangi	5	2826	8
Sorkhaktangi	6	2833	8
Jawkar	7	3152	24
Jawkar	8	3154	24
Chapqolak	9	2990	25
Qabrezaghak	10	2830	20
Chapqolak	11	2990	25
Chapdara Petab	12	2990	20
Chapdara Geru	13	2990	26
Chapdara Geru	14	3020	25
Means		2961	20.2

Table 5. Descriptive statistics (n = 14 households).

	Minimum	Mean	Maximum
Household characteristics
Children <15 years	0	2.6	6
Adults 15–64 years	2	5.2	17
Adults 65+ years	0	0.2	1
Total people in household	4	7.9	20
Income from agriculture (per cent)	0	51	80
Income from livestock (per cent)	0	35	50
Income from other sources (per cent)	20	63	100
Agricultural production
Altitude of household (metres)	2826	2961	3154
Arable land cultivated (ha)	0.2	0.7	40^a
Wheat cultivation	0	0.9	1
Potato cultivation	0	0.9	1
Barley cultivation	0	0.5	1
Oats cultivation	0	0.1	1
Vegetable cultivation	0	0.8	1
Alfalfa cultivation for livestock feed	0	0.9	1
Livestock production (units)
Ownership of cows	0	0.9	3
Ownership of ox	0	0.1	1
Ownership of sheep	0	9.9	20
Ownership of goats	0	1.4	5
Ownership of poultry	0	1.3	6
Ownership of donkeys	0	0.5	1

^aNB one outlier household cultivated 40 hectares.

Figure 3. Factors affecting food and nutrition security in Shah Foladi. Source: authors.

Table 6. Source and frequency of food consumption by category.

Foods	Main source	Season/quarter	Daily	Weekly	Monthly
Wheat Rice	Own/purchase Purchase	All seasons All seasons	1–2	1–5
Potato	Own/purchase	All seasons	1–2	1–4
Vegetables^a	Own/purchase Purchase	Summer/autumn Winter/spring	1–2 1?	1–4	1–2 1?
Fruits	Own/purchase	Summer/Ramadan		1–2	1–2
Meat Eggs Dairy	Own/purchase Own/purchase Own	Spring/Eid All seasons/Eid Spring/summer Autumn/winter	1	1 1–2? 3–5 1?	1–2?
Pulses	Purchase	All seasons		1–2?	1–2?
Nuts/seeds	Purchase	Autumn/winter/Ramadan/Eid			1
Oils/fats	Own/purchase	All seasons	1–2
Sugar Sweets	Purchase Purchase	All seasons Ramadan/Eid	1–2 with tea 1–2	1–3?	1
Forages	Collected	Spring/summer	1?	3?	1–2?

Note: ? indicates outlier responses.

^aOnions were consumed more frequently than other vegetables.

CSO. (2018). Afghanistan living conditions survey 2016–2017. Analysis report. Kabul: Central Statistics Organization (CSO), Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. Retrieved from http://cso.gov.af/Content/files/ALCS/ALCS%202016-17%20Analysis%20report%20-%20Full%20report23%20_09%202018-ilovepdf-compressed.pdf

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