A new study rethinks food insecurity as a complex and systemic challenge

A new study rethinks food insecurity as a complex and systemic challenge

The work, led by BC3 researcher Víctor Martínez-Cano and published in the journal Climatic Change, presents a crucial conceptual framework for understanding food insecurity not as a singular event, but as a complex, contextual, and intersectional phenomenon. This comprehensive perspective argues that food insecurity is the result of interconnected and overlapping dimensions that ultimately impact vulnerable households.

The research addresses the growing interest in food security, especially in the context of the Global North, following recent disruptive events such as climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, and geopolitical instability. The study underscores the critical feedback loop where agrifood systems contribute to ecological deterioration and climate change while simultaneously suffering its consequences. Crucially, this cycle is enabled and shaped by underlying socio-institutional and economic dynamics.

Building on existing efforts, the objective of this work was to develop a narrative that allows for a comprehensive analysis of the issue, gathering the environmental, social, food environment, and household dimensions; “the food that ends up on a family’s table is not usually just dictated by their social background. It is deeply embedded in their local context, a fragile reality shaped by complex social and ecological systemic dynamics, as recent disruptions have shown”, explains Martinez-Cano. The study was achieved through an exhaustive literature review, with the main complexity lying in synthesizing various complementary pieces of the vulnerability puzzle within agrifood systems to properly understand their complex dynamics and impact on food security.

The results of this work offer a significant impact by injecting greater complexity into food security narratives; elements that are frequently considered in isolation are brought together here. This integrated approach is essential for enabling more contextualised and just agrifood transitions toward healthier and more sustainable food systems.

Moving beyond the common “Perfect Storm” metaphor often used to describe moments of heightened food insecurity, this research strengthens the idea that the problem is not merely a consequence of circumstantial disruptions. Instead, it is a combination of these disruptions with systemic factors that must be addressed to achieve just agrifood transitions.

The full scientific work, made in collaboration with EHU and in the framework of SWITCH European project, is available here.