A gradualist approach to address food insecurity in rural areas: reconstructing the ‘food supply’ approach

Food security is a persistent issue threatening the lives of rural communities in developing nations. Several food security approaches have been developed to address food insecurity globally. Despite the prominent role rural areas have in food production, food insecurity is more prevalent in rural areas. More notably, these food security approaches were not sufficiently specific to address rural areas. Therefore, this study aims to critically review the significant food security approaches. In addition, this study develops a new approach to address food insecurity in rural areas. A thematic qualitative research approach was employed to analyze the food security approaches. The entitlement, capability, livelihood, human rights, and FAO’s approaches to food security were critically analyzed, and a gradualist approach is developed to address their drawbacks. The gradualist approach to food insecurity in rural areas puts rural areas first in dealing with food insecurity. Unlike the other approaches, the gradualist approach assumes that food insecurity in rural areas is mainly caused by inefficiency in food production. In addition, the approach underscores that achieving food security is a step-by-step process in which attaining food availability comes first to attain the other three pillars of food security: access, utilization, and stability. Thus, policies should emphasize boosting agricultural (food) production to secure food supply (availability) by tackling the root causes affecting agricultural productivity, like the shortage of water. Moreover, more discussions are required to standardize food security measurements and separately treat food security in rural areas.