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FOOD SECURITY

Shocks to food systems in times of conflict

Nature Food volume 2, pages 922–923 (2021)Cite this article

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Armed conflicts have devastating humanitarian consequences, both direct and indirect. A crucial yet overlooked outcome is the disruption of local agricultural production and the consequent erosion of food security in war-ridden regions.

Domestic agriculture remains the foundation of food security across much of the world, particularly in the Global South. Sudden, shock-like events, such as droughts, natural disasters, economic crises or revolutions, can interrupt agricultural production and lead to lasting changes in land-use patterns1,2. There is increasing evidence that such shocks have become more likely and will affect more people with the unfolding of global environmental change2. Understanding how agricultural systems respond to shocks has never been so important.

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Fig. 1: Incidence of conflicts relative to food insecurity between 2010 and 2020.

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Affiliations

  1. Geography Department, Humboldt-University Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Tobias Kuemmerle & Matthias Baumann

  2. Integrative Research Institute for Transformations of Human-Environment Systems, Humboldt-University Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Tobias Kuemmerle

Authors
  1. Tobias Kuemmerle
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  2. Matthias Baumann
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Correspondence to Tobias Kuemmerle.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Kuemmerle, T., Baumann, M. Shocks to food systems in times of conflict. Nat Food 2, 922–923 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-021-00435-1

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