December 19, 2018
Rachel Bahn and Rami Zurayk, American University of Beirut
Eckart Woertz, Barcelona Centre for International Affairs (CIDOB) and Sciences Po
The volume Crisis and Conflict in Agriculture, published by CABI in September 2018, explores the intersection of agriculture, crisis, and conflict. It considers both over-arching themes, as well as detailed case studies drawn from a range of contexts.
The motivation for the volume is to better understand the causes of conflict, in order to prevent conflict, inform resolutions to conflict, and avoid their most harmful effects. The impacts of armed conflict are strongly felt in agricultural systems,[1] in rural areas,[2] and on food and nutrition (in)security,[3] even in the 21st century. While the 21st century has experienced fewer interstate conflicts than the 20th century,[4] the number of wars, violent conflicts, and conflict-related deaths has risen rapidly in the early 21st century.[5] Patterns of violence have become protracted, with countries entering cycles of recurring violence, instability, and weak governance.
Conflict damages agricultural sectors, disrupts food production, destroys assets and household incomes, and contributes to food insecurity and malnutrition.[6] Conflict’s devastating impact on food systems is perhaps nowhere so evident as in the direct connection between conflict and the risk of famine, which affected an estimated 20 million individuals in early 2017,[7] and continues to be a major threat in light of ongoing conflict in Yemen.[8]
Earlier studies of the relationship between conflict and agriculture have considered the role of agriculture in causing conflict as well as the effects of conflict on agriculture. The evidence shows that the relationship between crisis, conflict, and agriculture is not strictly linear, and does not only move in one direction: Agriculture can be damaged, destroyed, or otherwise harmed by conflict. Agriculture can also be a causal factor contributing to conflict. The relationship between agriculture and crisis or conflict can also be bi-directional, as causal factors intertwine and reverse direction.[9] Conversely, recent research demonstrates that efforts to support agriculture and food security may in some cases help to sustain peace.[10]
Thematic and Case Study Contribution
Themes explored within the first section of the volume include the geopolitical dynamics of food supplies, the intersection of climate change and conflict, conflict over water, illicit crops in relation to armed conflict, and methodological approaches such as GIS and remote sensing to study agriculture in conflict contexts. In addition, an over-arching theme raised in the first section and throughout the volume is an exploration of the relationship between conflict and the agrarian question. The agrarian question asks whether the transformation of the agricultural sector has the potential to contribute to class-based conflict. The case studies considered throughout the volume point to divergent answers: In some cases, the answer seems to be yes, in others, no.
In the second section of the volume, case studies take a detailed approach to understanding crisis and conflict within a variety of agricultural and rural contexts. A total of 14 case studies are drawn principally from the global south, covering major regions across five continents: Middle East and North Africa, pastoral belts in Africa and Central Asia, South and Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Europe (an examination of land reform in Scotland).
For example, in her case study of Syria, Linda Matar (National University of Singapore) examines agriculture in pre-conflict Syria. Matar describes agricultural reforms and investment in the agricultural sector since the 1960s, which were intended to achieve food self-sufficiency within the country; as well as a change in government policy that introduced agricultural counter-reforms and reduced agricultural investment starting in the 1990s. Matar argues that the gap in government and private sector investment resulted in insufficient support for the infrastructural projects (such as modern irrigation systems) needed to ensure agricultural resistance to shocks. Syria’s agricultural sector was thus ill-prepared to handle the devastating impact of the 2006-2010 drought that affected the country. The reduction in agricultural investment, coupled with wider austerity measures pursued by the government, may have deepened the social rift between town and country and left Syria vulnerable on the security front once drought set in.
Contributions to the volume are drawn from multiple authors based in more than 15 countries, representing a diversity of academic disciplines including agricultural sciences and agronomy, anthropology, economic development, environmental science, international relations, political science, and sociology.
[1] Baumann, M. and Kuemmerle, T. (2016) The impacts of warfare and armed conflict on land systems. Journal of Land Use Science 11(6), 672–688. DOI: 10.1080/1747423X.2016.1241317. [2] Kalyvas, S. (2004) The urban bias in research on civil wars. Security Studies 13(3), 160–190. DOI: 10.1080/09636410490914022. [3] Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) (2016) Peace and food security: investing in resilience to sustain rural livelihoods amid conflict. FAO, Rome. Available at: www.fao.org/3/a-i5591e.pdf. [4] World Bank (2011) World development report 2011: conflict, security, and development. World Bank Group, Washington, DC. Available at: http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTWDRS/Resources/WDR2011_Full_Text.pdf. [5] Baumann and Kuemmerle, 2016. FAO, IFAD, UNICEF and WHO (2017) The state of food security and nutrition in the world 2017: building resilience for peace and food security. FAO, Rome. Available at: www.fao.org/3/a-I7695e.pdf. [6] FAO, 2016 [7] Sengupta, S. (2017) Why 20 million people are on the brink of famine in a ‘world of plenty.’ The New York Times, 22 February. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/22/world/africa/why-20-million-people-are-on-brink-of-famine-in-a-world-of-plenty.html?_r=0. [8] Walsh, D. (2018) The Tragedy of Saudi Arabia’s War. The New York Times, October 26. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/10/26/world/middleeast/saudi-arabia-war-yemen.html?module=inline. [9] Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) (2010) The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2010. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome. Available at: http://www.fao.org/docrep/013/i1683e/i1683e03.pdf. Brinkman, H.-J. and Hendrix, C. (2011) Food insecurity and violent conflict: causes, consequences, and addressing the challenges. Occasional Paper No. 24. World Food Programme, Rome, Italy. Available at: http://documents.wfp.org/stellent/groups/public/documents/newsroom/wfp238358.pdf?_ga=1.232466971.546340923.1487918749. Baumann and Kuemmerle, 2016 FAO, 2016. [10] Holleman, C., Jackson, J., Sánchez, M.V. and Vos, R. (2017) Sowing the seeds of peace for food security – Disentangling the nexus between conflict, food security and peace. Agricultural Development Economics Technical Study 2. FAO, Rome. Available at: http://www.fao.org/3/a-i7821e.pdf.
