Food security is a concept with a complex web of relationships covering many issues. Many factors, especially globalization, energy markets, and environmental problems, can affect food security (Lang et al., 2009). With the increase in poverty and unemployment in many countries with the COVID-19 epidemic, societies have had difficulties meeting their basic needs. Additionally, the increase in energy prices since 2021 and the lack of grain shipments in 2022 due to the Russia-Ukraine crisis caused an increase in food prices. In this context, the societies living in the war zones suffered the most. Moreover, the countries experiencing development and energy problems were also affected by this situation. It is prominent that Europe also has problems in energy and food security. Therefore, food and energy security is a problem with global repercussions and effects. This analysis explains, firstly, the development of definitions of food security and insecurity and then evaluates ethical dilemmas and global and national policies developed for the global solution of food crises. This conceptual framework includes the food crisis that Palestine is experiencing. Thus, this analysis aims to shed light on the dilemmas in the practices of global norms created in understanding food security.

What is Food Security?

Many definitions of food security have been put forward against the question of what criteria food security should be evaluated against. In 1974, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) introduced food security as “making the world's supply of basic food materials available and sufficient at all times to sustain the steady expansion of food consumption and compensate for fluctuations in production and prices” (United Nations, 1975, p. 14). In 1983, the institution expanded this definition and assumed that food security should always be ensured for all people with economic and physical access to food (Clay, 2002, p. 27). At the World Food Summit held in 1996, food security was defined as the access of all people at all times to “nutritious and safe food for a healthy and active life” (FAO, 1996, article 1). Thus, the importance of not only access to food but also the quality of the accessed food was emphasized. In 2002, the concept of “social access” was added to the concept of economic and physical access (Simon, 2012, p. 4), and social conditions were also taken into account with this definition. Thus, it is important that one’s access to food should not emanate from their discriminatory status that puts them over others. (2012, p. 6).

There are four basic norms of food security. These are “availability”, “access”, “utilization,” and “stability”. Availability is met by the concept of sufficiency and refers to the production and supply of food in sufficient quantity. At first, it was thought that food security problems would be solved with the increase in food production (Simon, 2012, p. 5). Amartya Sen first defined the norm of access in the 1980s as “having a regular and sufficient amount of food” (p. 6). The utilization norm emphasizes safe and nutritious qualities, while the stability norm aims to describe the permanent or temporary nature of possible food crises (p. 8). Thus, the upper norm in food security can be defined as the obligation of each individual/human to have access to a sufficient amount of food despite crises.

Food insecurity is a situation that can arise in the absence of any of these four norms of food security. Global and local issues are effective in the formation of food insecurity. With food prices increasing since 2021, there has been a problem of food insecurity around the world. It should be noted that food insecurity is not a new phenomenon neither is it related to any specific locality.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) report in 2020 shared the amount of malnourished population worldwide, its rates, and expectations for 2030 without including the impact of COVID-19. According to this report, while the Asian region had the highest rate of malnutrition in 2019, a decrease will be seen in 2030, and a severe increase in food insecurity is expected in Africa in 2030. It was predicted that there will be an increase of 1% in Latin America and the Caribbean, and little change in North America, Europe, and Oceania. The recent increase in energy prices, the epidemic, and the Russia-Ukraine war have affected food access in the Middle East, Europe, and Southeast Asia. On the other hand, environmental conditions and regional conflicts also affect the Middle East, North Africa, and Southeast Asia.

In response to these alarming statistics and the recent food crisis, some countries have started to impose bans on food exports and have adopted national food safety policies against food insecurity. This policy, referred to as food nationalism, restricts certain food supplies. Hammond (2022) states that this practice is not new, and 36 countries have imposed export bans on wheat and rice for four years since the 2008 financial crisis. Thus, he states that some countries have become more impoverished and have suspended education due to food insecurity. During the Russia-Ukraine War, India, Russia, Ukraine, Egypt, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, and Serbia banned wheat exports, while Argentina, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Tunisia, and Kuwait imposed restrictions on some of their products (Bloomberg, 2022). On the other hand, due to both inflationary pressures and the effect of global developments, Turkey restricted some products in seeking solution to the ongoing food crisis. The “Grain Corridor” initiative was commenced under the UN and Turkey's leadership to ensure the supply chain's reorganization and resolve the process through cooperation and dialogue. Via this initiative, the flow of the global supply chain will be continued, and Russia and Ukraine will be able to continue global trade despite the war they are going through. However, access to food in conflict zones will increase.

Food Insecurity in Muslim Societies: Palestine as an Example

With the Russia-Ukraine war, the food crisis has gained a global attention. Global food crises are becoming a topic of frequent discussions. However, as the data show, the rate of food inaccessibility is high in Asia and Africa. In this context, food safety problems must be addressed and discussed further in the regional and local contexts. Due to the political instability and environmental disasters in the Middle East and Asia, people have difficulty accessing basic foods. For example, people's access to food has decreased due to the war in Syria and Yemen.

In the context of conflict and food security, Palestine has long suffered. Conflict affects many economic and social factors. Access to agriculture, land, and water resources of Palestine, which has been under occupation for a long time, is restricted by Israeli forces (Lin, Kafri, Hammoudeh, Mitwalli, Jamaluddine, Ghattas, et al., 2022, p. 5). In addition, occupation, military actions, and restrictions make Palestine dependent on the Israeli market, and the purchasing power of Palestinians has decreased over time (p. 6). According to the data of UNRWA and FAO, in 2013, food insecurity in Gaza was 57%, while it was 19% in the West Bank (UNRWA, 2014). Israeli pressure, cutting foreign aid, restricting Gaza's tunnel trade[1], and unemployment influence this food insecurity (UNRWA, 2014).

The long duration of the conflict affects the countries in the conflict area and other countries in the region. Israeli pressure and global issues make it difficult for Palestinians to access food. On the other hand, international organizations may prefer to withdraw from conflict zones, as the problem cannot be solved and funds are limited. UN-based UNRWA, established in 1949 to help the Palestinians, extended its mandate until 2023 due to the inability to resolve the conflict. The fact that Palestinian society has become dependent for basic needs and weakened economically and socially is a problem that the international community should not ignore. In this context, the food governance in conflict zones and the access to food of refugees fleeing conflict should be discussed on an ethical level again.

The creation of food safety policies is inseparable from the concept of governance. One reason for this is that food has a global supply chain. It is affected by various global issues, development policies, and conflicts. Especially people in war zones need cooperation and norms to access basic needs. Non-governmental organizations, including the UN and the Gulf Cooperation Organization in Palestine and Yemen, and social movements shape food safety policies.

In this context, agreements supporting the Grain Corridor global supply chain reduce food insecurity in the conflict zone. In particular, global crises cause societies living in conflict zones to lose resilience. For this reason, it should be ensured that societies have access to basic needs in conflict zones within the framework of international law. The internal conflict in Yemen or the occupation that Palestine has been through for a long time should not only be considered a threat to the integrity of the state but also a violation of human rights, both economically and socially. For this reason, access to sufficient food without discrimination, which we describe as the upper norm of food safety, should also be applied to societies living in conflict zones.

Conclusion

The conceptual and contextual framework of food security is changing based on the food insecurity experienced by societies. Countries in the Asian and African regions are most affected by the food crisis. Global, regional, and national parameters can shape food crises. At this point, as well as the economic and environmental factors affecting the food crisis, international conflicts make access to food difficult.

States can alleviate food crises by adopting the policy of food nationalism after serious crises and employing cooperation and dialogue. Although the food nationalism security policy continues to be maintained, it is evident that it is not an effective and efficient policy. Food nationalism strengthens the understanding of the protectionism of states rather than solving these problems, and these policies cannot benefit food safety governance in the process.

Since international conflicts have global effects, the food security policies of states and non-state actors will guide the construction of this problem. For example, although the Russia-Ukraine crisis had a global impact on food security, the food supply chain could be maintained through cooperation and dialogue. For this reason, political and economic mechanisms for food security in conflict zones should be established, and this issue should be examined in the context of international law. There is a need to execute and regulate food policies in conflict zones such as Palestine and Yemen. In this context, the Gulf Cooperation Organization and the Islamic Cooperation Organization stand out as potential institutions that can lead to the establishment of food governance and dialogue.

References

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2 The Gaza Strip Tunnels were built to provide the trade with Egypt in response to Israel's embargo.