The Impact of Conflict on Food Security: Evidence from Household Data in Ethiopia and Malawi
Publisher: Agriculture & Food Security
Author(s): James Muriuki, Darren Hudson, and Syed Fuad
Date: 2023
Topics: Gender, Humanitarian Assistance, Livelihoods, Renewable Resources
Countries: Ethiopia, Malawi
Violent conflicts threaten food security and household welfare in sub-Saharan Africa. While a more robust understanding of the causal relationship between food security and conflict is vital in mitigating food insecurity and bolstering peace prospects, only limited research exists on this topic, especially at the household level where estimations are more empirically challenging given data constraints and identification issues. Our analysis utilizes a newly developed and novel difference-in-differences model developed by de Chaisemartin and D’Haultfoeuille (2020) to determine the causal relationship between violent conflicts and food security in two sub-Saharan African countries—Malawi and Ethiopia using household-level data from the World Bank’s Household Living Standards Measurement Survey.