Conceptual Transition of Food Security: Paradigms, Current State, and Challenges
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35588/2zzzkb70Keywords:
food security, food sovereignty, food policy, sustainable development, food systemsAbstract
Food security is a globally relevant issue due to its impact on human well-being. The aim of this study was to analyze the conceptual development of food security through the various paradigms that have shaped its meaning over time, identifying its status and future challenges by means of a literature review. The findings reveal five dominant paradigms influencing its conceptualization. Despite being recognized as a multidimensional concept, a productivism approach continues to predominate. In response to these limitations, alternative perspectives such as food sovereignty have emerged. The study also identifies contemporary challenges, including inequality in food distribution, the climate crisis, and the need for sustainable agri-food systems.
Downloads
References
Andrade, S. (2022). Consequences and legacies of the Zero Hunger program in Brazil: Why and how Brazil chose a food security approach. Tensões Mundiais, 18(36), 67‑90.
Banco Mundial (1986). Informe anual del Banco Mundial 1986. Banco Mundial.
Barraclough, S.L. (1991). An End to Hunger? The Social Origins of Food Strategies. UNRISD y Zed Books.
Béné, C., Bakker, D., Chavarro, M. J., Even, B., Melo, J. y Sonneveld, A. (2021). Global assessment of the impacts of Covid-19 on food security. Global Food Security, 31, 100575. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.2021.100575
Berry, E.M., Dernini, S., Burlingame, B., Meybeck, A. y Conforti, P. (2015). Food security and sustainability: Can one exist without the other? Public Healt Nutrition, 18(13), 2293-2302. https://doi.org/10.1017/s136898001500021x
Bird, A. (2018). Thomas Kuhn. Routledge.
Borlaug, N.E. (2000). The Green Revolution revisited and the road ahead. Special 30th Anniversary Lecture. The Norwegian Nobel Institute. https://www.nobelprize.org/uploads/2018/06/borlaug-lecture.pdf
Borras, S.M.Jr., Edelman, M. y Kay, C. (2008). Transnational agrarian movements: Origins and politics, campaigns and impact. Journal of Agrarian Change, 8(2-3), 169-204. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-0366.2008.00167.x
Boyd Orr, J. (1966). As I Recall: The 1880’s to the 1960’s. Macgibbon and Kee. https://www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/library/docs/As_I_Recall.pdf
Campbell, C. C. (1991). Food insecurity: A nutritional outcome or a predictor variable? The Journal of Nutrition, 121(3), 408-415. https://doi.org/10.1093/jn/121.3.408
Carolan, M.S. (2013). Reclaiming Food Security. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203387931
Catalán, E. y Lanza, R. (2015). Alimentación, carestías y crisis de mortalidad en la España cantábrica (1680-1860). Historia Agraria, 67, 11-42.
Clapp, J. (2014). Food security and food sovereignty: Getting past the binary. Dialogues in Human Geography, 4(2), 206-211. https://doi.org/10.1177/2043820614537159
Crawford, J.G. (1946). Proposals for a World Food Board. The Australian Quarterly, 18(4), 5. https://doi.org/10.2307/20631399
Cruz-Sánchez, Y., Aguilar-Estrada, A., Baca-del Moral, J. y Monterroso-Rivas, A.I. (2024). The availability of food in Mexico: An approach to measuring food security. Agriculture & Food Security, 13(35), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40066-024-00484-2
Devereux, S. (2006). Distinguishing between Chronic and Transitory Food Insecurity in Emergency Needs Assessments. World Food Programme.
Ender, G. (1983). Food security policies of six Asian countries (Foreign Agricultural Economic Report No. 190). U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service. https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/147216/files/faer190.pdf
Ericksen, P.J. (2008). Conceptualizing food systems for global environmental change research. Global Environmental Change, 18(1), 234-245. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2007.09.002
Fanzo, J. y Mattei, F. (2018). The role of food and nutrition system approaches in tackling hidden hunger. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15(5), 881. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph8020358
FAO (1943). United Nations Conference on Food and Agriculture: Hot Springs, Virginia, May 18-June 3, 1943: final act and section reports. Food and Agriculture Organization Archives. https://collections.nlm.nih.gov/catalog/nlm:nlmuid-25110080R-bk
____. (1974). Informe del Consejo de la FAO, 64° periodo de sesiones. Food and Agriculture Organization. https://www.fao.org/4/F5340S/F5340S00.htm
____. (1996a). Informe de la Cumbre Mundial sobre la Alimentación. Food and Agriculture Organization. https://www.fao.org/4/w3548s/w3548s00.htm
____. (1996b). Enseñanzas de la revolución verde: hacia una nueva revolución verde. Food and Agriculture Organization. https://www.fao.org/4/w2612s/w2612s06.htm
FAO y WHO (2019). Sustainable healthy diets: guiding principles. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations y World Health Organization. https://www.fao.org/3/ca6640en/ca6640en.pdf
FAO, FAD, UNICEF, WFP y WHO (2024). The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2024: Financing to End Hunger, Food Insecurity and Malnutrition in all its Forms. FAO, FAD, UNICEF, WFP y WHO. https://doi.org/10.4060/cd1254en
Gliessman, S.R. (2014). Agroecology: The Ecology of Sustainable Food Systems. CRC Press.
Jachertz, R. y Nützenadel, A. (2011). Coping with hunger? Visions of a global food system, 1930-1960. Journal of Global History, 6, 99-119. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1740022811000064
Kraus, S., Breier, M., Lim, W. M., Dabić, M., Kumar, S., Kanbach, D., Mukherjee, D., Corvello, V., Piñeiro-Chousa, J., Liguori, E., Palacios-Marqués, D., Schiavone, F., Ferraris, A., Fernandes, C. y Ferreira, J.J. (2022). Literature reviews as independent studies: Guidelines for academic practice. Review of Managerial Science, 16(6), 2577-2595. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11846-022-00588-8
Maxwell, S. y Slater, R. (2003). Food policy old and new. Development Policy Review, 21(5-6), 531-553. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8659.2003.00222.x
McMichael, P. (2009). A food regime genealogy. The Journal of Peasant Studies, 36(1), 139-169. https://doi.org/10.1080/03066150902820354
Morales-Pablo, R., Aguilar-Gutiérrez, G., Galaviz-Villa, I., García-Pérez, E., Soto-Estrada, A., Fonseca, J.M. y Ramírez-Martínez, A. (2024). Analysis of the regulations concerning circular economy and its relationship to the reduction of food loss and waste on an international level: A review. Waste Management & Research, 43(6), 897-910. https://doi.org/10.1177/0734242X241279942
Pinstrup-Andersen, P. (2009). Food security: Definition and measurement. Food Security, 1(1), 5-7. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-008-0002-y
Ramírez, R.F., Vargas, P.L. y Cárdenas, O.S. (2020). La seguridad alimentaria: Una revisión sistemática con análisis no convencional. Revista Espacios, 41(45), 319-328. https://doi.org/10.48082/espacios-a20v41n45p25
Reutlinger, S. (1985). Food security and poverty in LDCs. Finance & Development, 22(4), 7-11.
Sen, A.K. (1981). Poverty and Famines: An Essay on Entitlement and Deprivation. Clarendon Press.
Shaw, D.J. (2007). World Food Security: A History since 1945. Springer.
Spitz, P. (1985). The right to food in historical perspective. Food Policy, 10(4), 306-316. https://doi.org/10.1016/0306-9192(85)90022-3
Sraboni, E., Malapit, H.J., Quisumbing, A.R. y Ahmed, A.U. (2014). Women’s empowerment in agriculture: What role for food security in Bangladesh? World Development, 61, 11-52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2014.03.025
Templier, M., y Paré, G. (2018). Transparency in literature reviews: An assessment of reporting practices across review types and genres in top IS journals. European Journal of Information Systems, 27(5), 503-550. https://doi.org/10.1080/0960085X.2017.1398880
Torres-Torres, F., y Rojas-Martínez, A. (2019). La situación regional y las escalas de la seguridad alimentaria en México. Revista Legislativa de Estudios Sociales y de Opinión Pública, 12(25), 51-93.
WHO (2023). World Health Statistics 2023: Monitoring Health for the SDGs. World Health Organization.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Josue Emmanuel León-González, Elva Esther Vargas Martínez, Ana Gabriela Cabrera-Rebollo, Alejandro Delgado-Cruz
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
