Conflict of securing food: food insecurity is in effect creating an existential threat to human existence

On 14 October, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres marked World Food Day by observing that it "comes at a challenging moment for global food security" and that the "number of people affected by hunger has more than doubled in the past three years."

It should not be surprising then that food security, and the closely linked issue of water security, are pressing concerns for the international community. Further, as the impacts of climate change, particularly desertification around the Sahara, begin to become more prevalent, the impact of food security as a key driver of conflict is likely to be significant.

In order to explore the relationship between food security and conflict, it is important to clarify the understanding of food security.

The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations stated in a 2006 report that food security exists when everyone has unfettered physical and economic access to sufficient food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active life. In relation, the four key areas are availability, access, utilisation, and stability. If one of these four areas is challenged, then food insecurity exists.