Developing a model of strategies for enhancing food security against the phenomenon of food geopolitization

In recent years, the global food crisis and resulting food insecurity have made sustainable food supply a challenge for many countries, sparking global geopolitical competition. In regard to the geopolitization of food, this study proposes strategies to enhance food security. The model has been developed using grounded theory and data have been collected through interviews with 17 experts and review of 43 official reports and papers. Research findings reveal that food access has declined due to food shortages and unfair distribution in recent decades; as a result, food has become a source of competition and power struggles among countries. Therefore, food has been raised as a geopolitical issue. Changes such as the scarcity of water and soil resources, climate change, environmental degradation, insufficient investment in agriculture, and consumerism in societies have all contributed to the geopolitical importance of food worldwide. A number of strategies have been developed by countries in response to the geopolitization of food to improve their citizens' food security, including sustainable agriculture development, overseas cultivation, importing virtual water, reducing food waste, and diet modification. The success of these strategies, on the one hand, is influenced by the natural, human, technological, economic, political and military potentials of countries, and on the other hand, the conditions of the global environment. The most important achievements of the principled management of geopoliticization of food include enhancing food security, community health, reducing socio-cultural problems, improving political stability, reducing dependence on foreign countries, and preventing the destruction of natural resources.