Findings from this project will speak to a broad range of issues, including links between food insecurity and labour market skills, public health, child and adolescent development, and innovation in overcoming critical social challenges. This work will contribute to achievement of several Sustainable Development Goals (e.g. Goal 2, on food security and Goals 3 and 4 on promotion of well-being at all ages and education for all, respectively) by providing a strong evidence base to inform nutrition, education, and development policy.

The importance of food insecurity is expected to grow in coming decades, particularly in the Global South. The risk of simultaneous climactic shocks across food-producing regions globally—associated with diminished crop yields, flooding, and other damages to food systems—is increasing dramatically with climate change, compounding the risk of food shortages, rising food prices, widening income inequalities, and civil unrest. Projections suggest that climate change will exacerbate existing inequalities and vulnerabilities both within and between countries. Meanwhile, a growing body of research highlights the myriad ways that food insecurity can affect health and well-being across the life course.

Identifying the consequences of food insecurity for children and adolescents and understanding how households respond to food insecurity is essential to inform evidence-based policy making around food and nutrition security. Additionally, nuanced means of tracking inequalities in food insecurity within households are needed in order to better-understand and address the negative impacts of food insecurity. Food Security for Equitable Futures aims to provide much-needed evidence on these points, and to identify opportunities to engage with stakeholders to ensure that important evidence on food insecurity translates into evidence-based policy and practice.