Impact of Humanitarian Relief on Household Food Security in Meidob Area

Abstract

The main objective of this study was to assess the impact of humanitarian relief / food aid on household food security at Meidob area, North Darfur State. Field survey was used as the research method in this study, carried at Meidob area, North Darfur State, which suffered from poor rain, drought and Darfur conflict in recent years. Systematic random sampling procedure was used to select (65) household heads who were assisted by food assistance agencies or humanitarian organizations, and (50) household heads who were not assisted, to determine the impact of food assistance on household food security. Questionnaire was used to collect primary data by direct interviews. The collected data was coded and fed in the computer using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Data was analyzed by using percentages and Chi- square tests at the level of Significance of (0.05) to find differences between groups, or to assess dependency between independent and dependent variables (receiving food aid, households' income, family size and household head sex) and dependent variables (food quantity, food quality, crop production, livestock development, and increase of employment opportunity for household members). The main findings of the study were:- - The majority of household age groups ranged between 31 – 40 years, 50% and 43% respectively. iii - High percentage of illiterate group for both assisted and non assisted households (55%&36%). - Relatively high percentage of households had agriculture and pasturing activities as their important and main economic activity (27.8% and54.8%). - 38.5% and 32.3% of assisted households reported that the contribution of relief to productive activities in crop production and animal production was big and medium respectively. - Most household head problems facing them in animal husbandry were conflicts around water sources (49%). - Family size, household income and household head sex did not significantly influence the animal production practices for both household head groups, while they influenced significantly the humanitarian assistance received - Household income, family size, household head sex and humanitarian assistance received did not significantly influence the number of meals / day/household. Based on study results the following recommendations are suggested:- 1- Local Authority & all stake holders are advised to actively promote food security behaviors, and conduct profitable income generating activities for household heads. 2- International food aid organizations are advised to provide equitable distribution of food aid for all household populations in the affected area. iv ‫‪focus on nutritionally balanced meals to support household community in‬‬ ‫.‪the study area‬‬