Food security assessment in the light of sustainable development goals: a post-Paris Agreement era

Food safety, security, and sustainability are embedded in the foundational essence of several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations (UN), such as zero hunger, gender equality, economic growth, climate action, and life on land. The SDGs' targets, global policy directions, regional endeavours (e.g. European green deal), and nationally determined contributions (NDCs) pave the path for dynamic empirical research approaches. In this study, we explore the food security dynamics of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, emerging economies, and the sub-Saharan region through the prism of four broader domains, namely economic, environmental, social and resilience. We analyse the effects of these dimensions on food security of 52 countries through the penal data econometric method. The research analysis captures the food security outlook of the post-Paris Agreement (i.e. 2015 onward) era. The study exposes the distinct state of food security among the countries under investigation; the distinction is also evident among the developed economies of OECD, emerging economies, and sub-Saharan nations. Moreover, the study finds that food security has a statistically significant influence from all economic, environmental, social and resilience domains. The study contributes to the food security and sustainability literature, provides direction for future studies, and presents policy implications for policymakers and market practitioners.