How do conflict and violence affect food production and distribution, as well as rural populations?
There is no doubt that violent conflict affects food production. Various studies estimate that for nations at war, food production drops on average 10 percent to 15 percent. Of course, there is a lot of variation—large agricultural economies are sometimes almost untouched by conflict, and small ones are potentially halved. Conflict and violence influence food security in ways that reflect the specific nature of the conflict.
Broadly speaking, food security depends on a chain of agricultural and economic activities from food production, processing and storage to distribution, marketing, retail and, finally, consumption. Either through direct violence or the threat of violence, disruption of this activity chain reduces agricultural activity and thus production. The conflict itself can determine the nature of the disruption. For example, insecurity along highways can prevent both transportation of harvest to processing facilities and distribution to markets. Because extension agents mainly work with farmers, we have been focusing on those conflict issues that are related to land and access in communities that produce food. Disagreements between pastoral and agricultural peoples, for instance, can often lead to conflict. Likewise, the return of demobilized soldiers or internally displaced people to their communities of origin can touch off renewed violence and conflict.