Introduction to food insecurity

The intentional dismissal of multi-stakeholder collaborations and partnerships intended to support small-scale farmers has undermined efforts to enhance the sustainability of food security programmes, thereby contributing to heightened food insecurity. Pervasive political interference, governance failures, policy incoherence and disintegration, fragmented institutional structures, and inadequate coordination amongst various government actors adversely affect stakeholder interactions and networks. These factors exert a direct and detrimental impact on food security at the local level. Drawing from the theory of entrepreneurship, the incremental model, network governance theory, and political ecology theory, this chapter provides an in-depth analysis of how policy and decision-making incoherence, governance deficiencies, siloed operations amongst relevant actors, and institutional fragmentation exacerbate food insecurity. In-depth interviews were conducted with various stakeholders, including representatives from public and private sector organisations, non-profit organisations, and small-scale farmers, to achieve the objectives of this book. This chapter also provides a comprehensive theoretical background on the key variables central to this book, including the guiding theoretical frameworks, the role of small-scale farmers, the challenges they face, and policies required to support their initiatives and programmes. Finally, this chapter outlines the structure of this book by briefly introducing the chapters, each of which examines the relevant interlinked variables, culminating in the final chapter that presents overarching recommendations.