Food security and global security - IEEE

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Pablo Yuste EcharrenHunger and conflict■■Hunger as a cause of conflicts.Hunger as a cause of conflicts has been the subject of far fewer studies. As weshall see, until recently hunger was not regarded as a key element of armedviolence. It was regarded as just another element which required many otherdestabilising elements. Only recently has this relationship come to light andthe effects of the global food crisis have begun to alter the paradigm. Food, asecondary conflict-triggering factor in early warning indicators of conflict, isnow becoming a primary factor. Time will tell whether, as predicted by certainstudies, it becomes a crucial factor in the long term as food insecurity increasesaround the world.A report issued by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) (22)in May 2006 entitled Conflict, Food Insecurity and Globalization includes thefollowing emphatic statement: «most wars of the late 20th century and early21st century are “food wars”, meaning that food is used as a weapon, foodsystems are destroyed in the course of conflict, and food insecurity persists as alegacy of conflict» (23) . The study analyses various conflicts based on their levelsof food insecurity, defining food insecurity as a lack of food, a lack of accessto food or undernourishment.182In a study conducted by the same institute in 2003, the results could not bemore unequivocal. Overlaying a map of food insecurity on a map of conflictsrevealed that of the 44 countries that had high or average food insecurity(between 5% and 20% of the population), 24 had active conflicts, 18 were inpost-conflict situations and 2 were receiving refugees from external conflicts (24) .This result seems to prove beyond any doubt that conflict and the subsequentsituations caused thereby generate rates of food insecurity that exceed 20%of the population. Furthermore, a large percentage of that population meetsthe criteria to qualify for humanitarian aid. In other words, their acute foodinsecurity culminates in the loss of human lives which, as we have alreadyseen, mainly involves women and children.The report thus proves something that, by common sense, we have been awareof since biblical times: hunger and war ride side-by-side. However, the studydebunks one of the great dogmas of the advocates of globalisation. One of theideas upheld as being positive effects of globalisation was that the opening upof markets could prevent insecurity in contexts of conflict by allowing marketsto remain supplied.(22)The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) is probably the Research Centrewhich has carried out most research into the relationships between hunger and conflict.(23)Op Cit. Ellen Messer and Marc J. Cohen.(24)See Map 2 of Discussion Paper 206 Conflict, Food Insecurity, and Globalization May2006 International Food Policy Research Institute.
Pablo Yuste EcharrenHunger and conflictDespite the fact that in many such contexts it was shown that the affectedeconomies’ access to international markets was high, this did not prevent theconsequences for the food insecurity of the populations. Globalisation alsofailed to create a more stable world as its advocates had been suggesting (25) .Globalisation has not brought peace to the world, quite the opposite. It has infact brought new tensions, as we shall see. This study confirms what we havebeen seeing for the last 20 years.Although globalisation has led to a reduction in inter-State conflicts, intra-Stateconflicts have increased very significantly. One thing that does seem apparentis that the effects of globalisation are clearly beneficial to the arms trade, yetthe food markets do not appear to benefit from the same level of access (26) . Aclear example is the recent famine in Somalia, where the markets could not besupplied with food, but the militias’ access to weapons allowed them to buildthe most sophisticated arsenal that money can buy.Although IFPRI studies have established a clear link between post-conflictsituations and food insecurity, with more than 20% of the population havingno access to adequate food, not all of the population affected by high foodinsecurity lives in countries in conflict. Some countries have a large number ofpeople suffering from food insecurity but who live in non-conflict situations,as is the case of India.183Literature from Peace Studies tends to evaluate two sources of conflict: thegreed of certain sectors of the population for resources controlled by anothersector, and historic grievances. Both concepts are linked to rivalry betweengroups over certain resources, including access to harvests that can provideeconomic rewards. Along with the cause of conflict, we also find certaincatalysts of conflict, such as:• Political catalysts: Political catalysts are related to the struggle for resourcesand are only triggered when the country in question lacks sufficient socialdialogue to solve its problems without resorting to armed conflict in the faceof unjust political measures and little or no rule of law. Examples of thisare the land evictions by the Zimbabwe Government or the refusal to grantaccess to land in Chiapas.(25)By way of example, see Gleditsch, Petter, Nills, Wallensteen, Mikael, «Armed Conflict1946–2001: A New Dataset», in Journal of Peace Research, Nº 39, 2002, pp. 615–637;Marshall, M. and Gurr, T., A Global Survey of Armed Conflicts, Self-DeterminationMovements, and Democracy, Peace and Conflict, Center for International Development andConflict Management, University of Maryland, 2005; Martínez Guzmán, Vicent «Teorías dela guerra en el contexto político de comienzos del siglo XXI», in Murillo, I. (ed.), Filosofíapráctica y persona, Centro Internacional Bancaja para la paz y El Desarrollo, Castellón, 2004.(26)Much related literature exists on this subject. However, if you would like more informationon this issue, see: Naim, Moisés, Ilícito, Ed. Debate, Barcelona, 2005; Beck, Ulrich, ¿Quées la globalización? Falacias del globalismo, respuestas a la globalización, Paidós, 2007,Barcelona.
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GENERAL CATALOGUE OF OFFICIAL PUBLI
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CONTENTSCONTENTSINTRODUCTIONSantos
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Santos Castro FernándezIntroductio
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CHAPTER ONETHE HUMAN RIGHT TO FOODA
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Julia Gifra and Susana BeltránThe
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María del Mar Hidalgo GarcíaThe i
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CHAPTER THREETHE ROLE OF WOMEN IN F
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José Esquinas AlcázarBiodiversity
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Page 121 and 122: José Esquinas AlcázarBiodiversity
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Page 217 and 218: From the 1990s to Present day: Sear
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Nº TITLE63 Los grandes maestros de
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Nº TITLE106 Magreb: percepción es
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Nº TITLE144 La cooperación multil
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