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Food aid and household food security in a conflict situation: Empirical evidence from Northern Uganda

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  • Tusiime, Hamidu A.
  • Renard, Robrecht
  • Smets, Lodewijk

Abstract

It is well-established that armed political conflict has a detrimental effect on food security and household welfare: conflict induces food insecurity by reducing own food production, access to food through the market, and various other resources to sustain healthy and productive lives. One way of mitigating these adverse effects is to provide food aid. In this study we evaluate the impact of a World Food Programme intervention on household food security and asset protection among conflict-affected households in Northern Uganda. We employ propensity score matching to estimate the average treatment effect on food expenditure, food consumption and preservation of assets using a sample of 1265 observations from a 2008 survey. Our results reveal that the operation’s system of targeting beneficiaries was effective and in accordance with programme objectives. Food aid considerably reduced food expenditure of households, suggesting that recipients were net buyers of food, and that the food aid received was effectively consumed within the household. A corresponding positive effect on non-food expenditure was not found. Our results also indicate that food aid was effective in increasing meals consumed and in avoiding distress destocking of low value assets, but, surprisingly, only for male headed households.

Suggested Citation

  • Tusiime, Hamidu A. & Renard, Robrecht & Smets, Lodewijk, 2013. "Food aid and household food security in a conflict situation: Empirical evidence from Northern Uganda," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 14-22.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jfpoli:v:43:y:2013:i:c:p:14-22
    DOI: 10.1016/j.foodpol.2013.07.005
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    6. Jeong,Dahyeon & Trako,Iva, 2022. "Cash and In-Kind Transfers in Humanitarian Settings : A Review of Evidence and Knowledge Gaps," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10026, The World Bank.
    7. Henri Njangang & Simplice A. Asongu & Eric Mouchili, 2022. "Does corruption starve? An African perspective," Working Papers 22/022, European Xtramile Centre of African Studies (EXCAS).
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    9. Sarah Bridges & Douglas Scott, 2022. "Early Childhood Health During Conflict: The Legacy of the Lord’s Resistance Army in Northern Uganda," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 84(4), pages 694-718, August.
    10. Lee, Hyejin, 2017. "Trends In South Korea’S Grants-Based Aid For Agricultural Sector In Developing Countries," Journal of Rural Development/Nongchon-Gyeongje, Korea Rural Economic Institute, vol. 40(Special, ), December.
    11. Georgina Limon & Guillaume Fournié & Elisa G. Lewis & Paula Dominguez-Salas & Daniela Leyton-Michovich & Eloy A. Gonzales-Gustavson & Armando E. Gonzalez & Aurelio H. Cabezas & Julio Pinto & Jonathan , 2017. "Using mixed methods to assess food security and coping strategies: a case study among smallholders in the Andean region," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 9(5), pages 1019-1040, October.
    12. Danny Cassimon & Olusegun Fadare & George Mavrotas, 2023. "The Impact of Food Aid and Governance on Food and Nutrition Security in Sub-Saharan Africa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-19, January.
    13. Winnie Wangari Wairimu & Ian Christoplos & Dorothea Hilhorst, 2016. "From crisis to development: the policy and practice of agricultural service provision in northern Uganda," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 33(4), pages 799-812, December.
    14. Dorothee Weiffen & Ghassan Baliki & Tilman Brück, 2022. "Violent conflict moderates food security impacts of agricultural asset transfers in Syria: A heterogeneity analysis using machine learning," HiCN Working Papers 381, Households in Conflict Network.
    15. Koppenberg, Maximilian & Mishra, Ashok K. & Hirsch, Stefan, 2023. "Food Aid and Violent Conflict: A Review of Literature," IZA Discussion Papers 16574, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
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