we use these responses to calculate price averages for domestic and imported varieties separately, given large differences in price and quality. Finally, we convert nominal values to real values using a consumer food price index.<sup>5</sup> We use the FAO Food Composition Tables for the Near East to convert daily food quantities into kilocalories; we then divide by the effective household size to get per capita daily caloric intake.<sup>6</sup> The effective number of household members incorporates guests eating meals within the home and deducts when members are not regularly eating meals at home.<sup>7</sup> The effective number of household members is greater than household size for the relatively richer households, and less than household size for the poorest of households. The value of expenditure on food away from home is included in the calculation of the value of food consumption, but not included in the calculation of caloric intake since quantity data on such food was not collected. Food away from home constitutes about 2 percent of total food expenditure on average; it is less than half a percent for the poorest 20 percent of the population and about 4 percent for the richest 20 percent of the population.

To measure household dietary diversity, we use the food consumption score (FCS) developed by the World Food Programme (WFP). It is a weighted sum of the frequencies with which households consume foods within eight food groups over the previous week.<sup>8</sup> The food groups include staples, pulses, vegetables, fruit, meat/fish, milk/dairy, sugar, and oil/fat. Higher scores denote a more varied diet and are suggestive of a higher quality diet with a potential for higher micronutrient intake. The FCS has been used in food security assessments throughout the world. In Afghanistan, the national average is 61. The WFP uses a cutoff of 48 for an acceptable diet in countries where most households consume staples and oil every day. Under this categorization approximately 80 percent of the

> 5 We use a Laspeyres price index estimated by quarter for each region using the district price data. Real consumption is relative to the chosen base: urban areas in the Central region in quarter one. The capital, Kabul, is located in the Central region.

> 6 Spices, water, and  ̳other‘ foods do not contribute to total calories. USDA sources were used for a few items that were not available in the FAO tables.

> 7 Some studies use household size to calculate per capita amounts.  In Afghanistan the custom of sharing meals with guests makes it important to account for guests eating meals from the household cooking pot.  The effective household size also incorporates information on household members eating outside the home.  Some studies use equivalency scales to account for differences in consumption of adults and children when calculating measures of wellbeing.  We opt to include variables for household composition directly into the regression model to control for such differences.

> 8 Weights for the food groups range from 0.5 to 4 based on nutrient density. Condiments receive zero nutritional weight.  Frequencies are truncated at 7 for each food group.  The measure ranges from 0 to 112.

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