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This chapter examines the long-run behavior of real food prices and the impact of food prices on poor and vulnerable households. It also examines the price policy responses of governments to high and volatile food prices, and the impact of food prices and policies on the poorest in the society.

We focus on the impacts of food price changes on individual households, particularly on those living near the poverty line using the standard World Bank measure of poverty at US$1.25 per day in purchasing power.

We found that the effect of an exogenous increase in food prices typically raises poverty in the short run when many poor households are net buyers of grain and wage rates do not have time to fully adjust. In the long run, higher food prices increase food output and raise the wage rates of poor households from unskilled off-farm labor. The end result is that higher food prices can contribute to long-run poverty reduction.

Combining the impact of the price changes and government policy responses allows an assessment of the overall impact of higher world food prices on poverty.

This chapter critically examines the causes and effects of continuous poverty in two sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries, despite various poverty alleviation strategies adopted by each country. It reveals the theoretical framework and the accompanying set of programmatic and policy tools for poverty alleviation in SSA.

This chapter presents a quantitative description of the living conditions in a slum area of an intermediate Argentinean city during the outburst of the Covid-19 crisis using primary data collected four months after the lockdown measures had been introduced. The sample represents 1,500 households which claimed food assistance over this period, and whose deprivations and presence of young members are similar to that of 13% of the city’s population and 23% of the country’s population. Rough estimates suggest a disproportionate drop in employment and a disproportionate increase in unemployment in the area compared to those registered in the aggregate of the main urban agglomerations of the country. Cash transfers implemented during the lockdown, together with in-kind food aid from schools, the municipal government, and the church with non-governmental organizations, entailed a substantial average increase in the coverage of the cost of the basic food basket. However, non-trivial fractions of households were not covered by any of the main cash transfers. Also, and despite efforts, food insecurity could not be avoided. Considering the similarity of the sample to significant fractions of the country’s urban population, the deprivations experienced over 2020 by groups which were already in poverty before the Covid-19 arrival, raise alarms on the future well-being of these populations, especially for infants and children. Novel policies are required, addressing the various critical needs in an interconnected way, integrating the different stakeholders that have proven to be key in assisting these households during such an unprecedented covariate shock.

Food insecurity in the United Kingdom has been described as a ‘public health emergency’ which has been exacerbated by the onset and continuation of the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on research evidence and a reflective account from a current primary school teacher, this chapter highlights the multifaceted impacts of food insecurity for children in schools. It also draws attention to some important considerations around food, education and food-related interventions for practitioners supporting children in schools.

This chapter focusses on food systems' vulnerability. In a rapidly and unpredictably changing world, vulnerability of farming and food systems becomes a key issue. The conceptual bases for food vulnerability analysis and food vulnerability assessment are discussed in a systemic perspective with an eye to the transition approach (Geels, 2004) as a perspective capable to analyze how novelties can develop and influence the system capability to fulfil societal functions, and food and nutrition security in particular. A framework for assessing people's food vulnerability is presented together with a simple vulnerability model based on the three dimensions of exposure (the degree to which a system is likely to experience environmental or sociopolitical stress), sensitivity (the degree to which a system is modified or affected by perturbations) and adaptive capacity (the ability to evolve in order to accommodate environmental hazards or change) (Adger, 2006). Then, other sections are dedicated to discuss the general questions that should be answered by a vulnerability assessment exercise, and the specific challenges emerging when the assessment concerns a food system. These elements are then used in the Annex to this chapter as a base for the development of a detailed method based on seven distinct steps for conducting participatory assessments of the vulnerability of food systems.

This chapter focuses on a pathway for the creation of a just and equitable food system in South Africa that contributes to achieving the right to food and livelihoods for all. It is based on years of ongoing research on food systems in South Africa and Tanzania as well as a current research project on the impact of COVID-19 regulations on food systems in South Africa, Ghana and Tanzania. The chapter starts with looking at the challenges of the food system in South Africa, the problematic approaches to addressing these challenges and how the situation has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 crisis. Then it explores a different way of looking at and transforming the food system that moves away from the focus on corporate driven solutions and applies a different lens to analysing who the stakeholders are. The argument is for the advancement of economic actors identified by where they sit on the intersecting continuums from more marketised to more socially embedded, from more elite to the subaltern, and from larger to smaller scale. This lens makes it clear which type of enterprises and economic actors need to be supported and the alliances that need to be built to create a pathway to a better food future in the urbanising South African society and perhaps elsewhere as well.

The objective of this chapter is to discuss the pathways between climate, water, food, and conflict. Areas that are exhibiting food insecurity or have the potential to be food insecure are typically located in areas that experience poverty and government corruption. Higher rates of conflict occur in areas with lower caloric intake and poor nutrition.

We identify key pathways between these variables and discuss intervening factors and compound effects.

The pathways between water, food security, and conflict are complicated and are influenced by many intervening factors. A critical examination of the literature and an in-depth analysis of the reasons for conflict suggest that food insecurity is a multiplier, or facilitator, of the opportunities for and benefits from conflict.

To most effectively reduce the risks of conflict, policies must adequately and simultaneously address each of the four dimensions of food security – availability, stability, utilization, and access. Careful attention to alleviating food insecurity will help alleviate some of the underlying rationale for conflict.

Food security is an essential measure of welfare, especially for low-income families in developing countries. Policy makers should be aware of the harm food insecurity has on vulnerable households. This chapter empirically addresses the problems of measuring and monitoring food security in Mexico.

We identify the macro and micro approaches for measuring food security. The macro approach uses variables at the country level. Usually, this information is available on a yearly basis, is easy to implement, and can be compared across countries. The micro approach uses household questionnaires to collect food security information. Our analysis suggests that a macro approach will not be as precise as the micro approach due to inequality (agroclimatic, social, and economic).

Empirical experience suggests that food insecurity and its severity can be captured at the household level using the Food Insecurity Experiences Questionnaire. This questionnaire allows us to calculate food security measurements that closely follow the food security definition.

From a public policy perspective, the different methodologies for measurement do not consider all the dimensions of food security as defined by the term. This chapter examines which approach provides the best measurement of food security.