Food-Water-Displacement in the WANA Region

The WANA region not only shares bodies of water, it shares a regional food system, and it shares populations - particularly through refugee movement. Both food and water insecurity have been advanced as potential contributing drivers of migration and of conflict, and both are exacerbated by the displacement that results from conflict.

This paper examines how the links between water and food impact displacement in the WANA region, and how these links are impacted by displacement. It encourages a more balanced approach to analysing water and food security, particularly in the context of refugee movement and internal displacement, taking into account the tradeoffs between the two. The challenge is how water scarce countries can manage both water security and food security in a way that does not make them more vulnerable to conflict and displacement.

While the focus of this paper is on displacement, conflict is included as it is often a precursor to large-scale displacement; likewise conflict, in the form of social unrest, is often a result of large-scale displacement.