Building resilience for food and nutrition security in the context of civil conflict: Experiences from rural development programs in Yemen - 2020 Resilience Conference Brief 14

Food and nutrition insecurity is a consequence and a driver of civil conflict. War and civil unrest reduce household incomes and employment opportunities through economic recession; cause losses in people’s purchasing power from price inflation; and restrict food availability, access, and utilization through disruption of infrastructure. In turn, low per capita income and poverty, youth unemployment, and social and economic inequality—often combined with poor governance, population pressure, and rough terrain—are factors driving civil conflict. Recently, food and nutrition insecurity has been identified as another main driver of civil conflict globally and even more so in Arab countries. Specifically, rising international food prices were reported to have significantly increased the incidence of antigovernment demonstrations, riots, and civil conflict in low-income countries in the past.