A Human Development and Capability Approach to Food Security: Conceptual Framework and Informational Basis

This paper has a twofold objective: (a) to make a comprehensive review of different approaches to food security; (b) to develop a human development and capability approach to food security following the pioneering works of Amartya Sen and Jean Dréze. To our best knowledge, no paper has yet provided a systematic survey of the major approaches to food security. Starting from the analysis of food production, we highlight the value added provided by the capability approach and the human development paradigm. Then, we propose a methodology of analysis of food security through this approach, entailing three basic steps: (1) analysis of food entitlements; (2) analysis of basic nutritional capabilities; (3) analysis of the capability to be food secure. This way, it is possible to move beyond income-, entitlement-, or livelihoods-related frameworks, and to identify the root causes of food insecurity: food insecurity can be the result of lack of education, health or other basic capabilities that constitute people’s wellbeing. Therefore, it allows to situate the study within the broader topic of wellbeing, agency and freedom. Finally, we briefly discuss the role of food security for human development.