Microfinance is the provision of financial services to low income householdsrnand self-employed clients (Ledgerwood, 1999). Pro viding microfinancernservices to pastoral households is one aspect of promoting food security. Itrncontributes for income generation and smoothing consumption. This studyrninvestigated whether there are sigmficant differences in income,rnexpenditures on food and non-food items, food consumption, child schoolingrnand coping strategies between microfinance service beneficiary and nonbeneficiaryrnhouseholds in Filtu and 00110 Ado districts of Somali region.rnEqual numbers of beneficiary and non-beneficiary households (57rnhouseholds each) were included in the sample.rnThe research findings indicated that, microfinance beneficiaries have morerndiversified incomes than the non-beneficiaries. Furthermore, thesernhouseholds had more income relative to non-beneficiaries. As a result,rnhouseholds' access to microfinance services had higher monthly food andrnnon-food expenditures than non-service users. This indicates that, thernformer households have better purchasing power than the later. Thus, theyrnhave shown better calorie consumption.rnAccess to microfinance services enabled beneficiary households to increaserntheir incomes. The increased income helped beneficiaries to spend more onrnchild education than non-beneficiaries. More importantly, the beneficiaryrnhouseholds have employed less coping strategies during food shortages,rnwhich imp01 that, adequate food at their disposal. The result also showsrnthat, the severity of responses on the ufllization of coping mechanisms hasrnmore pronounced to non-beneficiary households. Finally, pastoralist orientedrnmicrofinance service reduces vulnerablltty and minimizes the risk ofrnbecoming food insecure.rnKey words: Microfinance, Food security, Coping strategies, Householdrnincome, Food expenditure, and Food consumption