The Role of Food in Civil Conflicts

by Simone Papale and Emanuele Castelli

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In a recent post published on the website of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Steven Were Omamo analyzed the relationship between political violence and food insecurity, identifying six main ways in which conflicts can destabilize food systems. According to the Director of the IFPRI’s Development Strategy and Governance Unit, armed conflicts:

1. Have a devastating impact on food security, forcing farmers, herders, and traders to flee to urban centers in search of safety, shelter, and services—at the expense of agricultural production.
2. Undermine trust in commercial transactions and relationships between sellers and buyers, disrupting supply chains and the normal functioning of markets.
3. Foster the emergence of a black market for food, where prices often skyrocket.
4. Alter decision-making processes in the food sector, empowering security officials—often military personnel—who control access to food and resources.
5. Damage food processing operations, as well as storage facilities, transportation networks, and infrastructure.
6. Ultimately compromise the humanitarian aid system, as decisions made during conflicts are often influenced by political factors or logistical difficulties.

Conflicts, in short, trigger a series of dynamics that destabilize food security, leading to food shortages, price increases, infrastructure destruction, and the disruption of humanitarian aid. For all these reasons, according to Omamo, future research on the relationship between food and war must necessarily identify the key factors that contribute to making food systems more resilient to conflicts, also considering what he refers to as “feedback loops”—the cascading effects of conflicts in political, social, and economic spheres. From this perspective, Omamo emphasizes the need to understand how the tragedy of conflicts can drive innovation—not only in the technological field but also in political and regulatory frameworks. This would help design more robust and resilient food systems, as well as governance structures (i.e., decision-making entities that produce policies, norms, and regulations) that ensure the ethical and effective management of food systems in conflict contexts.

Taken as a whole, the dynamics and challenges outlined above constitute important points of reflection for the study of the relationship between political violence and food insecurity, which is gaining increasing attention in the political science literature on international relations. On the one hand, as the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East clearly demonstrate, there is no doubt that conflicts generate hunger, producing a negative impact on the workforce, cultivated fields, and food systems, even on a large scale. On the other hand, food insecurity itself can contribute to conflicts (although the causal link, in this case, is less clear), generating a vicious cycle that could lead to long-term negative consequences, both in countries currently at war and, in a more indirect but no less significant way, at the global level.

As part of one of the research groups within the Excellence Project Food For Future, we have recently introduced an additional factor into the debate: in modern wars, not only the (un)availability but also the control of food resources can play a crucial role, affecting power balances and exacerbating humanitarian crises. In a recent article published on the topic, we have argued that terrorist groups such as Boko Haram and Al-Shabaab in Africa have turned food into a weapon of coercion, survival, and legitimization.

Through an analysis based on reports from government agencies and the United Nations, media articles, documents, and reports from non-governmental and human rights organizations (such as the Council on Foreign Relations and Human Rights Watch), our research has demonstrated how these militias go so far as to manipulate food security to strengthen their control over territory and undermine state authority.

Food as a weapon of control and power

While exploring the role of food as either a cause or consequence of violent dynamics, the research has so far tended to overlook how actors involved in conflicts exploit food as a weapon of control and power. Boko Haram and Al-Shabaab represent two significant cases for analyzing these dynamics.

Since the late 2000s, these jihadist organizations have established themselves among the most violent terrorist groups in the world, expanding their control in North-Eastern Nigeria (West Africa) and the Southern regions of Somalia (East Africa), respectively. These contexts, characterized by extremely low levels of food security, have provided terrorist militias with a strategic opportunity to strengthen their presence in the territory.

Boko Haram and Al-Shabaab have frequently used food as a tool to impose their power in contested territories and to cut the state off from operational areas. Through the destruction of crops, the poisoning of water sources, and the obstruction of humanitarian aid access, both groups have sought to undermine governments’ ability to ensure the well-being of the population, forcing communities to submit to their authority.

Over the past decade, jihadist militants have often manipulated food supply routes to keep vulnerable communities in their respective areas of influence in a state of dependency and subjugation. Terrorist groups have also imposed heavy taxes on crops and food goods, forcing farmers and traders to surrender part of their production under threat of violence. This system of forced expropriation not only ensures a steady supply of resources but also strengthens economic control over local communities.

The manipulation of food for popular support

In addition to using food to starve and subjugate entire communities, Boko Haram and Al-Shabaab have also adopted an opposite strategy: the targeted distribution of sustenance sources. In the territories under their control, both groups have provided food supplies to local communities to gain support and recruit new members from the most vulnerable segments of the population.

Such strategies are particularly evident in the case of Al-Shabaab, which has sought to exploit low levels of food security caused by famines and droughts in Southern Somalia to win favor among farming and pastoralist communities. Boko Haram has implemented similar measures in North-Eastern Nigeria, leveraging the weakness of local institutions to strengthen its position.

Consequences and limits of terrorist food strategies

The use of food as a weapon, however, is not without repercussions for terrorist groups. Although the manipulation of food resources has helped jihadists strengthen their control over their respective territories, in the long run, it has also triggered dynamics undermining their operational capabilities. Measures focused on crop destruction and blocking humanitarian aid have exacerbated local food crises, ultimately reducing the resources available even to the militias themselves.

In the case of Boko Haram, increasing food scarcity has led to defections among fighters, pushing the group to shift part of its activities to the Lake Chad Basin. Al-Shabaab, on the other hand, has faced growing discontent among farming communities, which, exhausted by ongoing extortion and deprivation, have started forming armed resistance groups.

Terrorist food strategies thus appear to have a boomerang effect: while they allow for short-term consolidation of control, they ultimately undermine the sustainability of operations, reducing popular support and complicating the logistical management of insurgencies.

Implications for security and containment policies

The latest political science research in the field of international relations highlights how food is a key dimension in contemporary conflicts. Analyzing the relationship between food resources and political violence thus provides crucial insights into power dynamics and the measures adopted by various actors. Food is not merely a contextual variable in civil conflicts but a central element of the strategies employed by those involved. To effectively counter jihadist groups like Al-Shabaab and Boko Haram, it is essential to implement an approach that integrates security and development, addressing the root causes of food insecurity.

To this end, security policies implemented by states and international organizations would benefit from greater sensitivity toward food access and resilience levels in vulnerable areas. Tackling the root causes of food insecurity, such as poverty and weak local institutions, could significantly reduce terrorist groups’ ability to exploit food resources as a tool of power and influence.

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