Viewpoint: The case for a six-dimensional food security framework

TLDR

The definition of food security has evolved over the past 50 years, adding the four pillars of availability, access, utilization, and stability that have shaped policy. This article argues that the definition should be formally updated to include the two additional dimensions of agency and sustainability proposed by the High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition. International policy guidance on the right to food already implies agency and sustainability alongside the established pillars, making a six‑dimensional framework a logical next step for policy and scholarship. The widening inequalities in food systems, growing awareness of ecological interconnections, and recent progress in measuring agency and sustainability together underscore the importance of adopting this expanded framework.

Abstract

The definition of food security has evolved and changed over the past 50 years, including the introduction of the four commonly cited pillars of food security: availability, access, utilization, and stability, which have been important in shaping policy. In this article, we make the case that it is time for a formal update to our definition of food security to include two additional dimensions proposed by the High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition: agency and sustainability. We show that the impact of widening food system inequalities and growing awareness of the intricate connections between ecological systems and food systems highlight the importance of these additional dimensions to the concept. We further outline the ways in which international policy guidance on the right to food already implies both agency and sustainability alongside the more established four pillars, making it a logical next step to adopt a six dimensional framework for food security in both policy and scholarly settings. We also show that advances have already been made with respect to providing measurements of agency and sustainability as they relate to food insecurity.