A 72h exploration of the co-evolution of food insecurity and international migration

TL;DR

This study investigates the dynamic relationship between food insecurity and international migration at the national level, considering factors like remittances, economic, conflict, and climate changes, using data analysis and a new modeling framework.

Contribution

It introduces a novel framework for modeling the co-evolution of food insecurity and international migration at the national scale, incorporating multiple socio-economic and environmental factors.

Findings

Identified significant associations between migration, remittances, and food insecurity.

Developed a framework linking these associations to model their co-evolution.

Provided insights into how changes in economic, conflict, and climate conditions influence migration and food security.

Abstract

Food insecurity, defined as the lack of physical or economic access to safe, nutritious and sufficient food, remains one of the main challenges of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Food insecurity is a complex phenomenon, resulting from the interplay of environmental, socio-demographic, and political events. Previous work has investigated the nexus between climate change, conflict, migration and food security at the household level, however these relations are still largely unexplored at national scales. In this context, during the Complexity72h workshop, held at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid in June 2024, we explored the co-evolution of international migration flows and food insecurity at the national scale, accounting for remittances, as well as for changes in the economic, conflict, and climate situation. To this aim, we gathered data from several publicly available sources (Food and Agriculture Organization, World Bank, and UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs) and analyzed the association between food insecurity and migration, migration and remittances, and remittances and food insecurity. We then propose a framework linking together these associations to model the co-evolution of food insecurity and international migrations.