Thumbnail Image

Food security and conflict: Empirical challenges and future opportunities for research and policy making on food security and conflict

Year of publication 2018

Place of publication Rome, Italy ;

Pages 42 p.

Author Martin-Shields, C., Stojetz, W.

Publisher FAO ;

Product type Book (series)

ISBN 978-92-5-130985-8

Series title FAO Agricultural Development Economics Working Paper

Series number No. 18-04

Edition 1

Synopsis (short abstract) During the previous decade there has been an increased focus on the role of food security in conflict processes, both in the academic and policy communities. While the policy community has pushed forward with new programs, the academic debate about the causal linkages between food security and conflict remains debated. This article emphasizes the endogeneity that characterizes the coupling between food (in)security and violent conflict. We make three contributions. First, we define conflict and food security using the standard Uppsala Conflict Data Program and the FAO databases, and illustrate how intervening factors influence the relationship between conflict and food security at the micro and macro levels. Second, we provide a comprehensive review of the literature on linkages between food security and conflict, focusing on findings that account for endogeneity issues and have a causal interpretation. Third, we highlight policy-affecting data gaps beyond endogeneity and chart ways forward to improve the existing bodies of data and support new data collection to fill the academic gaps and support policy making. Our article supports to the ongoing debate around the causal relationship between food security and conflict, while also providing policy makers with analysis of data challenges and opportunities for innovation in food security and peacebuilding.

Language English

Also available in:
No results found.

Related items

Showing items related by metadata.

  • Thumbnail Image
    Book (stand-alone)
    Conflict, climate change, food security, and mobility in the Karamoja Cluster
    A study to analyse interactions among conflict, food security, climate change, migration and displacement factors
    2023
    Also available in:
    No results found.
    This report presents the findings of a study commissioned by FAO, IGAD CEWARN, IGAD-CBDFU and Interpeace and undertaken between November 2021 and April 2022. The study was aimed at analysing resource-based conflicts in the Karamoja Cluster in order to generate evidence on their causes and drivers, major parties, impacts and trends, with a view to recommending strategies for conflict-sensitive and peace-responsive programming that will address the root causes and drivers of conflict so as to strengthen food and nutrition security, address the drivers of displacement and enhance the capacity of communities to adapt to climate change.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Book (series)
    Food security and armed conflict: A cross-country analysis 2018
    Also available in:
    No results found.
    Significant progress has been made in improving global food security, yet some countries still face severe challenges. In some cases, violent armed conflict has potentially contributed to local food insecurity due to disruption of food production and agricultural markets. Despite the relevance of this topic in context of tracking global food security, there is a paucity of empirical work examining this cross-country variation. Therefore, this study uses country-level data, covering 106 countries in Africa, Asia, Central and South America between 1961–2011, to estimate the relation between conflict and food security. Results show that conflict is associated with a large estimated reduction in the national dietary energy supply and highlight the negative correlation between conflict and food security, illustrating how certain types of conflict could potentially undo years of progress.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Brochure, flyer, fact-sheet
    The Democratic Republic of the Congo: Impact of conflict on agriculture, food security and livelihoods in Ituri
    Executive summary of the DIEM-Impact report (August 2023)
    2024
    Also available in:
    Marked by more than forty years of conflict, the province of Ituri, in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, has experienced massive population displacement and recurrent violence. The basic needs of the population, notably access to food and the practice of agriculture, have been seriously impacted, harming the quality of life and worsening food insecurity. The goal of the Data in Emergencies (DIEM) team at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) was to assess the impact of decades of violence on agriculture , food security and livelihoods in Ituri, and to propose recommendations for programming. This document is a summary of the DIEM-Impact report carried out following the August 2023 assessment.
Show more

Users also downloaded

Showing related downloaded files

No results found.