Conflict-induced household-level food insecurity in conflict-affected areas of Northeastern Ethiopia.

Conflict-induced food insecurity has been currently emerging to be a widespread challenge to the decent livelihood of the human population. This study examined conflict-induced food insecurity in conflict-affected areas of the northeastern part of Ethiopia. This study assessed three time periods (pre-conflict, conflict, and post-conflict times) to analyze the impact of conflict on the studied households. Food consumption score and household food insecurity access scale tools were used to measure the food security status of households. Descriptive statistics and independent t-test were used to analyze the data. The major finding confirmed that the food security status of both urban and rural households in the study areas was negatively affected by the conflict. Compared to the pre-conflict period (22.2%), the number of food-insecure households at the time of the conflict was three times higher. Though the food security status of both rural and urban households was affected by the conflict in the area, the effect was much severe for the rural households. The number of food-insecure rural households during the conflict was three times higher than the pre-conflict period. During the conflict, female-headed households (78.3%) were more vulnerable to food insecurity than male-headed households. The independent t-test result confirmed the presence of a difference in food security status between rural and urban households (