Causes of food insecurity
Climate + conflict + poverty + land.
Climate. Drought (Sahel), flooding (Bangladesh), shifting rainfall reduce harvests. Climate change worsens.
Conflict. War destroys infrastructure, displaces farmers, blocks aid. Syria, Yemen, South Sudan, Sudan.
Poverty. Most famines are about ACCESS, not absolute supply — people can't afford food. Amartya Sen's "entitlements" theory.
Land use change. Cash crops for export replace food crops. Urbanisation eats farmland. Land grabs by foreign investors.
Other factors. Population growth, food waste (~30% wasted globally), poor distribution, weak governance.
Cambridge tip. Mark scheme rewards LINKED causes — conflict displaces farmers → harvests fall → prices rise → poor can't afford.
- Climate, conflict, poverty, land.
- Access matters more than absolute supply.
- Modern famines are political.
See the full worked example for food security: challenges, impacts and management →