Food security, equitable development and <scp>South–South</scp> migration: Towards a research agenda

‘The nexus between migration and food security remains a peripheral and much-neglected concern’ In this Commentary, we reflect on recent policy-related and research moves to connect migration with food security. Food security refers to the condition where individuals, households, and communities have both physical and economic access to an adequate quantity and quality of food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for a healthy and active life (FAO, 2008). Implicit in the FAO definition are six different dimensions of food security: availability, accessibility, utilization, stability, agency, and sustainability (Clapp et al., 2022). Since food is a fundamental necessity for all human beings, food security is a vital dimension of individual and group well-being. The latest State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report reveals that between 690 and 783 million persons experienced food insecurity globally in the form of hunger and malnutrition last year (FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP & WHO, 2023). These numbers are significantly higher than the estimates for 2019, with 122 million additional persons facing food insecurity only 3 years later (FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP & WHO, 2020, 2023). In a similar vein, the Global Report on Food Crises 2023 suggests that 258 million people are experiencing acute food insecurity in 58 countries undergoing crises in the Global South (FSIN and Global Network Against Food Crises, 2023). Various forms and degrees of food insecurity thus constitute a persistent and intensifying global challenge that manifests at local, national, and regional scales, and in urban as well as rural areas (Crush et al., 2021; Choithani, 2022). In the 2030 United Nations Development Agenda, SDG 2 (‘Zero Hunger’) underscores the importance of tackling food insecurity to achieve sustainable development. The realization of food security is therefore inextricably connected with equitable forms of socio-economic development. Despite its centrality to human security and sustainable development, food security has received little serious attention in migration studies as well as in the migration and development policy agenda. As Chetan Choithani (2022: 28) notes, ‘discussions on these two issues have largely tended to proceed in separate silos, with little attention devoted to the relationship they bear with one another’. There has thus been a glaring disconnect between deliberations on the governance of migration and development, on the one hand, and the governance of food security, on the other (Crush, 2013; Crush & Caesar, 2017). It is as if no-one eats anything in the world of international migration, and no-one moves anywhere in the world of food security. This policy detachment has been reinforced by a dearth of rigorous research on the nexus between food security, development and international migration. The weak integration of inequality in assessing the interface between migration and development is another reason for the disregard of food insecurity among migrants and migration-dependent populations (Crawley et al., 2022). This gap in the research and policy narratives has been especially marked in the context of South–South migratory flows (Chikanda et al., 2020). Recently, there have been promising signs of a rapprochement between migration and food security. For example, food security is acknowledged in recent global migration agreements, albeit in circumscribed and partial ways. The Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular migration references food security twice in passing, identifying it as one of the many drivers of less voluntary and unsafe forms of migration, and food as a minimum standard for migrant detainees (United Nations, 2018a). The 2022 progress assessment of the implementation of the Global Compact by the International Migration Review Forum (IMRF) recorded its concern ‘about the impact of financial and economic crises, poverty, health emergencies and food insecurity on international migration and migrants’ (United Nations General Assembly, 2022, p. 3). The Compact is silent on the food security of different categories of migrants, the related challenges they encounter in transit and in destination countries, and policy solutions for addressing migrant food insecurity. The Global Compact on Refugees (United Nations, 2018b) does identify the need for targeted food assistance through cash transfers and social protection along with building household resilience through support of local agricultural systems. However, the numerous ways in which food security shapes the root causes of large-scale refugee movements are ignored. On the other side of the divide, there are some signs of progress as well. The Committee on World Food Security (CFS) and High-Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition (HLPE) have yet to seriously engage with the food security challenges faced by migrants and their dependents in countries of origin and destination. However, the FAO's (2019) Migration Framework recognizes migration as a core function of the organization and identifies four thematic areas of work: minimize adverse drivers of migration in rural areas of origin and boost alternatives; facilitating rural mobility; enhancing the benefits of migration for rural populations; and promoting resilience and agricultural livelihoods for migrants. Unfortunately, the FAO's mandate precludes it from venturing into other neglected dimensions and spaces of migrant food security and insecurity, including in migration corridors and rapidly growing urban destinations. Adaptation to climate change is providing another means of highlighting the critical, yet complex, links between migration and food security. As the 2022 Kampala Ministerial Declaration on Migration, Environment and Climate Change presciently notes: ‘We can no longer talk about climate change without talking about human mobility’ (IOM, 2022). Initial depictions of climate migration by the IPCC tended to view the relationship between climate change, food insecurity and migration in overly linear and deterministic terms, ignoring potential feedback loops and the positive role that migration might play in mitigating food insecurity and enabling adaptation to climate risks. The African Climate Mobility Initiative has recently stressed that migration is a key climate adaptation and risk reduction strategy (ACMI, 2023). Similarly, among its key climate change risks, the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report identifies risks to food security and risks to peace and human mobility (IPCC, 2022). However, the precise mechanisms involved in optimizing the impacts of migration for climate adaptation to food insecurity require a great deal more exploration. As the IPCC (2022) itself notes, ‘there is a widespread lack of knowledge about the connections between climate change and its impacts on livelihoods. Current coping responses are therefore unlikely to prove sustainable. People are deciding to stay or move without adequate information on the risks’. Against this backdrop, the SSHRC-funded Migration and Food Security (MiFOOD) Network (https://hungrycities.net/about-mifood/) has embarked on a multi-year, inter-disciplinary project to provide the evidence base for constructive policy-making at the interface between migration and food security. MiFOOD works in 13 countries worldwide (five in Africa, three in Asia and three in Latin America and the Caribbean) and is partnered with the IOM, ILO, FAO, IFPRI, SDSN and MiDEQ. Drawing on the latest MiFOOD research, we identify five key domains that require urgent scholarly and policy attention (Crush & Ramachandran, 2023). First, how does food security operate as a key individual, intersectional or compounding driver of migration aspirations, intentions and actions in the context of South–South migration? Second, how does food security feature in different types of crisis scenarios and conflict dynamics to become the main driver and final precipitant of forced displacement and survival migrations in the Global South? Third, how do food and cash remittances address the food security and other inequalities-related deficits in the sending areas and facilitate adaptation to climate change? Additionally, how do remitting practices and obligations impact the food security of migrant populations in receiving areas? Fourth, how do migrants contribute to the food security of receiving areas in the Global South through their participation in urban and rural foodscapes and food systems? Finally, how does food security feature in the precarities of various categories of migrant in the transit and destination areas? As global policy attention turns inevitably towards the interplay between migration and food security, it is imperative that researchers lay a sound foundation through grounded, rigorous and actionable knowledge co-production and dissemination. The opinions expressed in this Commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors, Editorial Board, International Organization for Migration nor John Wiley & Sons. NA.

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