This study assesses the effect offood aid on household food security in Aysaita Wereda, AfarrnNational Regional State (ANRS).The study Wereda has been vulnerable to chronic foodrninsecurity and the majority of the househo!.df.t. wye dependent on food aid. Thus, thernobjective of this research was to assess the :dtftr~ of food aid on household food securityrnand perception of households on food aid and to identify the major coping strategies ofrnhouseholds [email protected] was gathered by employing primary and secondary data collection tools.rnPrimary data were collected using household questionnaire, FGD, key informant interviewrnand personal observation of the researcher. Secondary data were collected from governmentrnorganizations and NGOs. The analysis was made using primary data collected from 4rnKebeles (Hinele, 8erga and Keredura and 1 urban Kebele, that is Aysaita Town (Kebelern01 )). Food availability equation was used to measure the level of household food securityrnstatus.rnThe study showed that the majority of the households (72.6 percent) in the Wereda werernfound to be food insecure. When food aid is included the food insecure households wererndeclined to 68.6 percent, i.e. food aid helped 4 percent of the households to be food secure.rnOverall, the study households fulfill 78.5 percent of their per capita energy requirement fromrnall available sources, indicating a food gap of 243.6 Kcal (21.5 percent) of 2100 Kcalrnminimum requirement. Moreover, the majority of HHs (89.4 Percent) didn't think that foodrnaid doesn't have an influence on their agricultural production. The HHs also have a positivernattitude towards food aid in solving their problem and are willing to receive even if they dornhave enough to eat. Prolonged supply of free food aid in the study area created dependencyrnin which the recipients expect continuous assistance. Targeting results of food aid in thernWereda was also found to be very poor. The major coping strategies of the Wereda thal arernused daily were limit portion size at meal times, reduce number of meals eaten per day,rnreduce adult consumption so that children's can eat, rely on causal labor for food and usernmoney saved in bank account.rnIt is therefore suggested that among other things, beneficiary engagement in the process ofrnfood aid, carefully design FFW programs, limiting food aid for those who are very much inrnneed, and overall diversifying the rural economy particularly by giving more emphasis tornlivestock production, creating off farm employment opportunities and effective use of foodrnaid resources through efficient targeting and creating awareness on the part of the societyrncould help for better household food security and food aid effect in the study area.