Food and national security: intervening factors

Abstract

The present study evaluated the agricultural sector and sought to answer which factors could affect food security and, consequently, national security. As sensitive factors, productive concentration, agricultural policy, logistical infrastructure, dependence on strategic inputs, legal uncertainty (and social movements in the countryside) and environmental sustainability were analyzed. It can be inferred that there are vulnerabilities in each of these factors. To avoid any rupture that would threaten the stability of national security, four actions stand out: i) defend national sovereignty in order to guarantee the autonomous right to produce food and energy; ii) create strategic communication, which highlights the positive features of agricultural production, inside and outside the country; iii) invest in science and technology to keep the construction of a low-carbon economy; and, finally, iv) bring the armed forces closer to the challenges created by the importance of the productive sector in the national economy, essential to economic development.