Food Systems for Peace and Security in a Climate Crisis
Publisher: Lancet Planetary Health
Author(s): Peter Läderach, Grazia Pacillo, Philip Thornton, Diego Osorio, and Dan Smith
Date: 2021
Topics: Climate Change, Conflict Prevention, Livelihoods, Renewable Resources
Two thoughts should shape policy on food and peace. The first is that the worldwide increase in hunger is driven primarily by climate change and violent conflicts, and the second is that the availability of food is foundational for peace. Consequently, policies, programmes, and finances to strengthen food systems need to include climate action and conflict mitigation, but this recognition has been taking place slowly among global security and food system agents. The Security Council of the UN—the highest organisation tasked with maintaining international peace and security—passed, in 2019, a historic statement, Resolution 2417, acknowledging the link between hunger and conflict. This Resolution recognises “the need to break the vicious cycle between armed conflict and food insecurity”. The numbers are clear: about 490 million of the 800 million people in the world who face chronic food insecurity live in countries affected by conflict, and 74 million of 110 million people facing acute hunger are located in 21 countries affected by conflict and insecurity. The Sustainable Development Goals, harmonised with the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, set up ambitious goals to end poverty and hunger, providing a strategic framework for global development by 2030.