MSC Food Security Track and Task Force

Townhall Discussion at the Munich Security Conference 2025, Munich

In this Townhall, high-ranking politicians met food security experts to discuss the weaponization of food as a strategic threat to global security. Asmund Aukrust (Norwegian Minister for International Development), Niels Annen (Parliamentary State Secretary at the BMZ) and Vera Songwe (Founder and Chair of the Liquidity and Sustainability Facility) took part in the discussion.

Speakers emphasized that reactive humanitarian aid alone cannot counter deliberate starvation tactics and that systemic resilience and geopolitical deterrence are now imperative.

Participants identified Russia targeting Ukraine's agricultural infrastructure as a blueprint for modern food weaponization as it disrupts global supply chains and exacerbating hunger worldwide, including in far-flung regions such as East Africa and the Middle East.

The panel emphasized the need to enforce UN Security Council Resolution 2417, which prohibits the weaponization of food, through sanctions, legal accountability, and cross-sector coalitions involving military actors to secure aid corridors.

The session underscored food security as national security, urging governments to integrate agrifood resilience into defense strategies and to use multilateral financial institutions such as the World Bank to counter trade-based coercion.

With conflicts in Sudan and Gaza demonstrating the deadly consequences of blockades and aid manipulation, panelists called for unified security budgets and global alliances to neutralize hunger as a weapon of war.

Watch the recording here.

Side Event organized by the MSC and the Council on Foreign Relations at the MSC 2025, Munich

The dinner, prepared by Chef Alexander Högner and introduced by Sam Kass (former White House Chef and Senior Policy Advisor for Nutrition to President Obama), featured endangered ingredients to highlight the urgent need for climate-resilient agrifood systems.

The pre-dinner discussion focused on how climate change and biodiversity loss are threatening global food security, with 40 percent of edible crops at risk of extinction.

Speakers Vera Songwe (Founder and Chair of the Liquidity and Sustainability Facility), Martien van Nieuwkoop (Director of Agricultural Development at the Gates Foundation), and Amira Saber Qandil (Member of the Egyptian Parliament) noted that many countries, such as Egypt, are heavily dependent on wheat imports and are increasingly vulnerable to food insecurity and political instability as drought-prone areas expand and food prices rise. There was consensus on the critical need to invest in adaptation and ecosystem resilience as a basis for addressing these challenges.

The panel stressed the importance of fostering agricultural innovation, modernizing storage and irrigation, investing in R&D, enabling farmer access to technology, and improving supply chain efficiency to reduce post-harvest losses, which can be as high as 40 percent in some African countries. The discussion also addressed the changing nature of global cooperation, noting that the US withdrawal from development assistance and the disruptions caused by Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine are reshaping food security partnerships and resource allocation.

High-Level Panel at the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA), Berlin

For the second time, the MSC co-hosted a high-level panel together with the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture at the GFFA, bringing together key decision-makers and researchers to discuss the critical intersection of peacebuilding, food security, and climate action.

The discussion was enriched by contributions from Cem Özdemir (German Minister of Food and Agriculture), Anne Beathe Tvinnereim (Norwegian Minister of International Development), Elizabeth Carabine (UNEP Climate Security Advisor at the Horn of Africa), Caroline Delgado (Director of the Food, Peace and Security Program at SIPRI), and Rommel Arnado (Mayor of Kauswagan, Philippines).

The discussion showed that the interconnectedness of conflict, climate change, and food insecurity is becoming increasingly apparent, as these forces intensify and feed into each other in many contexts around the world. Panelists emphasized the transformative potential of agriculture in peacebuilding, citing successful projects such as the “From Arms to Farms” initiative in the Philippines, that have built trust.

The geopolitical dimension of food security was also addressed, highlighting the weaponization of food and urging countries to recognize the strategic importance of food security.

The panel underscored the urgent need for action to address growing global hunger and advocated for both strengthening existing multilateral institutions and creating dynamic "coalitions of the willing," to effectively address food insecurity as a central element of (inter)national security.

Watch the recording here.

MSC Roundtable on Food Security at the Munich Leaders Meeting, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

The MSC Roundtable focused on how to strengthen the resilience of agrifood supply chains and address trade dependencies to promote food security.

It brought together Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (Director-General, WHO), Ilan Goldfajn (President, Inter-American Development Bank), and Niels Annen (Parliamentary State Secretary, German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development), who outlined the strategic importance of food security as a matter of national and health security, and highlighted the critical intersections with trade and climate resilience in the face of global challenges such as the war in Ukraine.

Speakers highlighted the opportunities offered by the G20 Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty to streamline efforts and resources. The discussion underscored the importance of strengthening existing frameworks such as the WTO, building strategic reserves, and supporting smallholder farmers to increase productivity and resilience.

Another key element of the discussion was the urgent need for infrastructure development to unlock agricultural potential, for example in Africa and Latin America. Overall, the panel called for governments, multilateral organizations and the private sector to work together to address the challenges posed by the global trend toward protectionism and the need to balance self-sufficiency with international trade to ensure food security.

Breakfast Discussion at MSC@COP29, Baku, Azerbaijan

The breakfast discussion took place at the German Pavilion at COP29 in Baku and brought together Máximo Torero Cullen (Chief Economist at the FAO), Ismahane Elouafi (Executive Managing Director, Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research) and Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim (Founder and President, Association for Indigenous Women and Peoples of Chad, N’Djamena) with a group of around 20 experts from the climate community.

This session highlighted the dire impact of conflict, climate change, and the economic crisis on global hunger. Panelists also brought climate tipping points into the discussion, as they are expected to further increase food insecurity in low-income and high-income countries, underscoring the urgency of investing in resilient systems.

The need to look beyond and diversify food production and supply chains in the face of climate change, while promoting inter-regional trade, was identified as key. Panelists also stressed the need to improve the efficiency of existing funds, knowledge sharing, and technology transfer in order to stabilize and develop resilient food systems.

The panel referred to a report by the Food System Economic Commission. It outlines that transforming the global food system could generate annual economic benefits of up to 10 trillion USD, while also achieving significant improvements in reducing hunger and reducing environmental damage.

Townhall Discussion at the Munich Security Conference 2024, Munich

Cary Fowler (US Special Envoy for Global Food Security), Vera Songwe (Chair of the Board, The Liquidity and Sustainability Facility and Co-Chair of the UN High Level Climate Panel) and Nisreen Elsaim (Sudanese climate activist) discussed entry points for the necessary transformation of food systems in an interactive Townhall format.

The discussion made clear that small increases in global agricultural productivity are not enough to address the current food crisis – leaps forward to real transformation are needed and can only be achieved by working with the private sector to mobilize the necessary resources.

Multilateral Development Banks have been identified as key players to help governments develop comprehensive agricultural strategies and scale up investments. Addressing food insecurity must go beyond feeding people; it is also about providing development and economic opportunities for societies to thrive and, in turn, ensure long-term food security for their people.

Women's empowerment was reaffirmed as a cornerstone of sustainable change, as women make up the majority of smallholder farmers and in many societies are responsible for providing food for their families and communities.

Watch the recording here. 

Roundtable Discussion at the Munich Security Conference 2024, Munich

The MSC Roundtable brought together a group of some 30 high-level participants for an interactive, cross-sectoral debate, with contributions from Cindy McCain (WFP Executive Director), Robert Dussey (Foreign Minister of Togo), Benedetta Berti (Head of Policy Planning in the Office of the NATO Secretary General), and Bill Anderson (Chairman of the Board of Management of Bayer AG).

The discussion underscored the urgent need for a more geopolitically informed debate on food insecurity and complex crisis scenarios. Defense and development issues cannot be treated separately, as food insecurity, for example, has direct operational consequences, and there are increasing incidents of deliberate military targeting of food production, storage, and critical infrastructure. Russia's attack on the Kakhovka Dam in Ukraine was used as an illustration.

There was a general expectation among participants that incidents of the weaponization of food as a war tactic will increase and that all actors – political, humanitarian, and defense – will need to prepare accordingly. Data sharing was seen as a key step in addressing food insecurity, including early warning systems, to enable action where it is most needed to prevent deterioration and to combine rather than duplicate efforts.

High Level Debate at Global Forum for Food and Agriculture, Berlin

The discussion brought a security perspective to an agricultural forum, bridging different communities to work on the interlinked challenges of food, climate, and security.

Cem Özdemir (German Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture) and Josefa Sacko (African Union Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment) discussed with Martin Frick (WFP Director Germany), Paul Rushton (NATO Climate and Energy Security Officer), and Janet Maro (CEO Sustainable Agriculture Tanzania).

All speakers agreed that the food system is broken, and by sharing their different perspectives and the challenges they face around food insecurity, fascinating overlaps and potential entry points opened up. The argument that attempts to weaponize global hunger can only be effective in a context where climate change is already constraining food supplies around the world highlighted the interconnectedness of the issue.

The importance of thinking about unthinkable shocks to the food system in order to avert them was emphasized. It was further argued that if policymakers prioritized food security at the local level, many other decisions would fall into place. Fair partnerships are key to tackling food insecurity, and there are promising trends, such as increased agricultural cooperation between Africa and South America, but much remains to be done.

Panel Discussion at COP28, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

On the sidelines of COP28, Cindy McCain (Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP)), Vera Songwe (Chair of the Board, The Liquidity and Sustainability Facility), Ricarda Lang (Co-Chair of the German Green Party) and Nisreen Elsaim (Sudanese climate activist) came together to discuss the dangerous impacts of climate change on food security and the steps needed to build resilience.

The discussion highlighted how the fragility of food systems is exacerbated by climate change and poses a major threat to the lives and livelihoods of many. Extreme weather events and climate-related disasters are causing crop failures and disrupting food supply chains.

Moreover, the interlinked challenges of climate, food insecurity, and supply chains disproportionately affect countries already struggling with mounting debt burdens or conflict, further increasing their vulnerability and leaving little room to build long-term resilience. Early warning systems and climate risk insurance programs were highlighted as critical tools to be made widely available to address these vulnerabilities.

Panelists also acknowledged the difficulty of balancing investments in short-term emergency responses with long-term solutions.

Roundtable Diskussion beim Munich Leaders Meeting, Nairobi, Kenia

The discussion focused on the regional dynamics of food security. Speakers included Ahmad Awad bin Mubarak (Yemini Minister of Foreign and Expatriate Affairs), Niels Annen (German Parliamentary State Secretary, Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development) and Sewit Ahderom (Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer, Gro Intelligence).

The inherent link between food security and the debt crisis was a central part of the debate, highlighting the struggle of countries to balance climate adaptation and food resilience efforts with the mounting debt burdens. Participants emphasized the political nature of food insecurity (e.g. the weaponization of food supplies) and the urgent need for inter-agency and cross-departmental approaches and structural reforms.

In addition, the importance of deepening intra-African trade, rediscovering indigenous crops, promoting land rehabilitation, and scaling up investments in resilience-building were highlighted as important steps to address the complex challenge of food insecurity.

“There is a growing consensus that persistent food insecurity is a major human security challenge and that there is a clear link between food insecurity, instability, and conflict. Even a local food security crisis can produce wider regional or global consequences.”

In the memorandum of the MSC Food Security Task Force (91 KB) you can read more reasons why food security is crucial. 

“With Russia’s war against Ukraine, the weaponization of food has taken on a new global dimension. Nations need to rethink their approach to food security.”

Read Michael Werz's article from the special issue of IPQ on the occasion of MSC 2025 on Food Weaponization and the need to rethink approaches to food security.

“The global system is undergoing tectonic shifts that threaten stability and security in many places. The United States and China, as the most dominant powers, are either disengaging or pursuing uncompromising national agendas and showing no interest in the global common good. New multilateral coalitions of the willing are needed to address global challenges such as the dire food crisis...”

Read the full article here (725 KB).