Food security, equitable development and South–South migration: Towards a research agenda

Abstract

In this Commentary, we reflect on recent policy-related and research moves to connect migration with food security. Food security refers to the condition where individuals, households, and communities have both physical and economic access to an adequate quantity and quality of food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for a healthy and active life (FAO, 2008). Implicit in the FAO definition are six different dimensions of food security: availability, accessibility, utilization, stability, agency, and sustainability (Clapp et al., 2022). Since food is a fundamental necessity for all human beings, food security is a vital dimension of individual and group well-being. The latest State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report reveals that between 690 and 783 million persons experienced food insecurity globally in the form of hunger and malnutrition last year (FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP & WHO, 2023). These numbers are significantly higher than the estimates for 2019, with 122 million additional persons facing food insecurity only 3 years later (FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP & WHO, 2020, 2023). In a similar vein, the Global Report on Food Crises 2023 suggests that 258 million people are experiencing acute food insecurity in 58 countries undergoing crises in the Global South (FSIN and Global Network Against Food Crises, 2023). Various forms and degrees of food insecurity thus constitute a persistent and intensifying global challenge that manifests at local, national, and regional scales, and in urban as well as rural areas (Crush et al., 2021; Choithani, 2022). In the 2030 United Nations Development Agenda, SDG 2 (‘Zero Hunger’) underscores the importance of tackling food insecurity to achieve sustainable development. The realization of food security is therefore inextricably connected with equitable forms of socio-economic development.