Co-Benefits and Synergies between Food Security and Eight Positive Peace Pillars

Tong Zou; Ali Cheshmehzangi

doi:10.53941/ubs.2025.100006

Abstract

Nowadays, food insecurity (FI) remains one of the most challenging issues due to the complexity of food systems and its structural and underlying causes including governance, economic and production issues, demographical and social issues, and climate/environment, aligning with the four dimensions of sustainable development (economic, social, environmental, and institutional). Regarding to this, when constructing any potential solutions, it is important to identify the fundamental needs, key actors, and major priorities. In speaking of peace, impacts of conflicts (CF) are major drivers of food insecurity, including agricultural damage, food system & production disruptions, crops and livestock plundering, and assets and income loss. Conversely, food insecurity can undermine peace and trigger conflicts with various factors fueled by rapid increase in food prices, limited accesses to food, food supply chain disruption, etc. To understand this nexus better, this study conducts a systematic bibliometric analysis of the literature on food security and the eight pillars of Positive Peace. We searched the Web of Science database, applying stringent inclusion criteria focused on articles detailing interactions between specific food security dimensions (availability, accessibility, utilizaiton, stability) and the eight pillars of Positive Peace (functional government, equitable resources, free information flow, neighborly relations, human capital, rights acceptance, low corruption, sound business environment.). From an initial pool of 123 records, 27 articles met the criteria for full analysis. Findings highlight strongest interactions: (1) Availability-Positive Peace/Conflict (e.g., GM crops); (2) Accessibility-Equitable Distribution of Resources (water/land access) & Food Accessibility/Food Insecurity-Positive Peace/Conflict (e.g., COVID lockdowns); (3) Availability-Governance/Equitable Distribution of Resources (e.g., food aid) & Food Insecurity-Governance (e.g., effective institutions). This analysis provides evidence-based pathways for designing integrated solutions that simultaneously strengthen food security and foster durable peace.

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