MDGs and UNDP
Millennium Project
Afghanistan Millennium Development Goals Report 2005
SUMMARY
¨ Poverty measurement in Afghanistan is severely constrained by lack of data. It is difficult to reliably estimate and track the Global MDG indicators for income or asset poverty, but available data suggest that about 20% of rural
households are chronically food insecure and another 18% face seasonal food shortages. So, 20-40% of Afghans
need varying levels of food assistance at different times of the year.
¨ Despite extensive damage to production and marketing systems as a result of war, and dramatic fluctuations in
the annual rainfall,Afghans have been resourceful at maintaining a minimum level of calorie intake by relying on
social networks, remittances, migration, and cultivation of drought-resistant cash crops (opium poppy) as a
livelihood option.
¨ Food insecurity was estimated to be highest in Herat and Ghor in the west, Khost in the east, Jawzjan, Faryab,
Samangan and Balkh in the north, and Bamyan in the central highlands. In contrast, the northeast had relatively
lower levels of poverty.Poverty rates in areas without irrigation are likely to be higher, with 65% households being
food insecure.
¨ Malnutrition is a serious problem for Afghanistan.Nearly 40% of the children under 3 are moderately or severely
underweight, and more than 50% of children in that age group are moderately or severely stunted.There is little
diversity in the Afghan diet. Poor dietary diversity leads to micronutrient deficiencies and to poor nutrition
outcomes.
¨ Seventy-five percent of the typical rural Afghan diet consists of cereals, primarily wheat. In the provinces of Ghor,
Herat, Laghman, Khost and Uruzgan 80-90% of households have very poor dietary diversity. Some of these
provinces are doubly disadvantaged since a large number of households also suffer from food insufficiency.
AFGHANISTAN'S REVISED MDG TARGETS AND INDICATORS
==> The proportion of people whose income is less than US $1 a day decreases by 3% per annum until the year 2020
¨ Proportion of population below US $1 per day
¨ Proportion of population below national poverty line
¨ Poverty gap ratio (incidence x depth of poverty)
¨ Share of poorest quintile in national consumption
==> The proportion of people who suffer from hunger decreases by 5% per annum until the year 2020
¨ Prevalence of underweight children under 5 years of age
¨ Proportion of population below minimum level of dietary energy
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