Description
Conflict can lead to food insecurity, and food insecurity can lead to more conflict. This makes food insecurity a major catalyst of harm and need among combatants and non-combatants alike. To break this vicious cycle, food aid is often seen as an obvious solution. However, food aid is no panacea and can sometimes even prolong conflict. We argue that the mode and capacity of national-level and local-level governance are key moderators. Local food aid access, coordination with humanitarian organizations, attacks on humanitarian workers, and local food expropriation all hinge on the willingness and ability of government actors at the national and local level to facilitate and to protect relief program s. The resulting conundrum is how external stakeholders can engage effectively to mitigate needs and harms that arise from the twin threats of food insecurity and conflict. Through large-N analysis of micro-level data on food insecurity from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, this paper tests the impact of different constellations of external stakeholder engagement – through international development, humanitarian relief, and peace efforts – on short-term and long-term conflict dynamics and nutrition levels. In doing so, this paper furthers our understanding of parallel strands of academic work spanning development, humanitarian relief, and peace.
