Fighting Food Insecurity: A Humanitarian Effort, or A Political Agenda?

• In Event: Issues in International and Comparative Politics

Abstract

Since WWII, the international community has provided food aid through both independent and joined efforts to a variety of nations in many different forms. Some of these include giving cash to spend on agricultural development or emergency supplies, donating surplus food, or providing grants and loans to build programs and infrastructure to fight food insecurity. This aid is supplied for a variety of different reasons, such as being a response to emergencies including disease outbreaks, natural disasters, and conflict. However, after over half a century of international food assistance and enough food in the world to eradicate hunger, food insecurity still persists. In fact, the number of people suffering from food insecurity is only rising; the UN predicts that by 2030, 600 million people will be facing food insecurity, a projection that will disproportionately affect women, children, people of color, those in rural settings, and those who live in the Global South.
Is there a correlation between the different characteristics of a country and the food aid it receives? This paper will look to answer these questions through a case study of the political landscape, the cause of food insecurity, and the type(s) of aid different countries receive. I will be focusing on Guinea, Nepal, and Syria: countries located in separate regions that experienced unique causes of food insecurity in the mid-2010s. In doing this, I will evaluate what different factors contribute to the food aid a country receives and why that is.

Author

• Deanna Bourque, Emmanuel College