Household Food Security during Armed Conflicts. Livelihood Coping Strategies in the Bamenda Municipality of the Northwest Region of Cameroon

Scientific Study from the year 2023 in the subject Politics - Region: Africa, , language: English, abstract: Food insecurity caused by conflict calls for sound evidence-based policymaking and interventions. The main objective of this study is to understand the impact of the ongoing armed conflict on household food security, and the sustainability of livelihood coping strategies employed in the Bamenda Municipality of the Northwest region of Cameroon by splicing the Food Insecurity Experience Scale and the Sustainable livelihood framework.
Despite enormous multiform humanitarian food aid interventions, the situation is far from improving. It is therefore not clear to what extend the armed conflict has affected household food security in the NW region of Cameroon as a whole and the Bamenda municipality. The effectiveness of livelihood responses in solving the problem cannot also be ascertained. Understanding the relationship between armed conflict and food insecurity (access and availability), associated perceptions, coping strategies and livelihood responses is therefore critical in managing food insecurity across the bord.
Although research works on the relationship between food security and violent conflict have steadily increased, it is still an emerging research theme among economists, political scientists, and development researchers to look at livelihood responses and food security in a volatile environment, especially in the Bamenda municipality of the Northwest Region of Cameroon which has been experiencing an ongoing arm conflict since 2017.
The main research question of this study is: To what extend has the ongoing socio-political crisis impacted on household food security and what is the sustainability of the livelihood coping strategies being employed in the Bamenda Municipality of the Northwest region of Cameroon?