The Board for International Food and Agricultural Development is a seven-member, presidentially appointed advisory board to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) established in 1975 under Title XII of the Foreign Assistance Act, as amended. The provisions of Title XII mandate that USAID bring the assets of U.S. universities to bear on development challenges in agriculture and food security. At the request of USAID Administrator Mark Green, BIFAD convened a public meeting to examine issues around agriculture and food security in fragile and conflict-affected contexts, including issues around displacement and its effects on food systems.
Today, addressing food insecurity means operating amidst conflict and fragility. Last year, every country in a protracted food crisis was also engaged in violent conflict (FAO 2018). There is an urgent need to understand the unique challenges of improving the agricultural sector and food security in conflict-affected and fragile contexts—including those in which large populations are displaced—in order to strengthen investments in evidence-based food and agriculture programming tailored for these contexts.
This BIFAD public meeting began to address this need by bringing stakeholders and sector experts together for a timely discussion on the subject.
The event specifically addressed the following questions: What is the state of knowledge on the relationship between conflict, fragility and food systems? What are the implications of this relationship for food security? How can food security and agricultural investments be most effective in preventing conflict or accelerating recovery in post-conflict settings? What are the unique needs of affected populations?
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