Al-Shabaab attacks in Somalia affect communities as far as 900km away – aid agencies need to take note.

Policymakers tend to assume that the effects of conflict are felt only where violence occurs. As a result, humanitarian aid, protection efforts or asylum policies largely focus on conflict-hit areas. The World Health Organisation, for instance, provides emergency medical supplies in areas directly affected by
violence.

 The UN Refugee Agency ties protection status to residing in areas hit by conflict. Our recent study finds, however, that conflict negatively affects food security, nutrition, health and education outcomes of families living hundreds of kilometres away from the epicentre of violence. This underscores the need
to broaden policy responses to conflict and consider its ripple effects

 Our research in Somalia examined how the impact of violent conflict spread to distant locations. We looked specifically at conflict that affected Somalia’s food logistics network, which gets food to far-flung markets.