From Hunger to Instability: Why Global Hunger Matters for UK National Security, authored by Professor Stuart Gordon of the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), sets out the case for making hunger prevention a greater priority in UK national and international security planning.
Commissioned by United Against Malnutrition & Hunger (UAMH), the report argues that global hunger and malnutrition should be recognised not only as humanitarian emergencies, but as important drivers and early-warning signals of political instability and conflict.
Hunger, instability and security
Conflict is widely recognised as a major driver of hunger. The report examines the other side of this relationship: how food insecurity and malnutrition contribute to political crises, intensify existing grievances and increase the risk of instability.
Drawing on evidence from current, recent and historical unrest in countries including Tunisia, Somalia, Sudan, South Africa, Nigeria, Sri Lanka and Yemen, the research shows how food insecurity can erode trust in government, fuel mass protest and intensify economic shocks.
It can also create opportunities for armed and coercive actors, particularly where institutions are already fragile.
With half of the world’s population unable to afford a healthy diet, and malnutrition contributing to nearly half of all deaths among children under five, the report argues that earlier action on hunger and nutrition can help strengthen resilience and prevent crises from becoming more severe.
Professor Stuart Gordon, the report’s author, said:
“Food insecurity tests one of the most basic expectations people have of government: that it will protect access to the essentials of life. When food becomes unaffordable or unavailable, grievances can intensify quickly, public trust can erode, and instability can escalate.
“Hunger prevention should therefore be understood not only as a moral imperative, but as a strategic investment in security. Where hunger becomes destabilising, it is rarely because leaders lacked information. More often it is because action came too late.”
A preventive-security case for the UK
The report highlights the potential consequences for the UK when food stress contributes to instability, including greater humanitarian need, regional spillovers, displacement pressures and increased opportunities for armed or coercive actors.
It calls for food security and nutrition to be incorporated more systematically into the UK’s approach to conflict prevention, diplomacy, development and, where appropriate, defence engagement.
Among its recommendations, the report calls on UK policymakers to expand predictable and anticipatory financing so that support can be scaled before food stress becomes politicised; incorporate indicators such as food-price volatility, harvest failure, market disruption and malnutrition into early-warning assessments; and support locally led responses and shock-responsive social protection.
It also recommends exploring debt-for-nutrition swaps, treating climate adaptation and land governance as conflict-prevention priorities in exposed regions, and protecting civilian access to food by safeguarding trade corridors, ports, local markets and humanitarian supply chains.
The report argues that nutrition programmes should be treated as long-term investments in resilience. Chronic undernutrition can affect physical and cognitive development, educational attainment and lifetime productivity, weakening the ability of individuals, communities and countries to withstand future shocks.
Lord Oates, CEO of United Against Malnutrition & Hunger, said:
“Nutrition is foundational to development, prosperity and security. This report shows why preventing hunger is both the right thing to do and firmly in the UK’s national interest.
“At a time of fiscal constraint, the UK should focus on early action and approaches that draw in additional resources: pooled and blended finance, stronger domestic investment, locally led delivery and proven nutrition interventions. Investing in pooled funding mechanisms such as UNICEF’s Child Nutrition Fund can help maximise the impact of UK support.”
The report launch at RUSI (Royal United Services Institute) brings together experts from security, international development, humanitarian action and nutrition with Lord Jock Stirrup former Chief of the Defence Staff and Marshal of the Royal Air Force, delivering the keynote address.
Read the full report: From Hunger to Instability: Why Global Hunger Matters for UK National Security.
