In March 2026, GDHP researchers Caitriona Dowd, Liezelle Kumalo and Naledi Joyi published their analysis of where food security features in the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) policy agenda, in the International Feminist Journal of Politics. The study is motivated by the fact that peace, conflict, and food security are each deeply gendered. Despite this, and despite significant policy focus on all three dimensions at multiple levels, policy processes related to gender, peace and conflict, and food security tend to proceed on parallel tracks with limited overlap. Drawing on a combination of content analysis across a large corpus of WPS policy material and in-depth qualitative discussion of select cases, we find that, first, there is an absolute neglect of food security and its gendered dimensions in the WPS agenda overall; second, food security is relatively neglected even in comparison to other domains of human security, broadly defined; and third, food security is neglected even in contexts of extreme food crisis. We conclude with a discussion of these gaps and their implications for gender equality, inclusive peace, and sustainable food security. 

The published study is available at IFJR's website, and is based on an earlier working paper published on the GDHP project site. 

In December 2025, GDHP researchers Caitriona Dowd, Liezelle Kumalo and Naledi Joyi published their scoping review on the sex and gender dimensions of hunger in peace and conflict, in leading international development journal, World Development. The study is motivated by the fact that sex and gender profoundly shape exposure to, experiences of, and impacts from both violent conflict and food crises alike, but understanding of their intersections – specifically, how sex and gender influence food insecurity in conflict – remains limited.  The study presents an overview of current scholarship and available evidence on the sex and gender dimensions of hunger in conflict to synthesise the state of the art in this field.  It finds that: there are relatively few studies on the sex and gender dimensions of conflict and hunger compared to other areas of gender and conflict research; existing literature is concentrated in a number of key cases, several of which are in historical contexts, with implications for relevance to contemporary food crises; existing research tends to privilege biological sex over more sociological considerations of gender, and is largely concerned with nutrition and food security outcomes among women; and the role of sex and gender in production and trade within food systems in conflict is relatively neglected, which limits our understanding of the mechanisms through which conflict disrupts and transforms these.

The published study is available open access on World Development's website, and is based on an earlier working paper published on the GDHP project site. 

In July 2025, GDHP researchers based at UCD, Seán Gurrin, Joanna Pedrina and Caitriona Dowd, published their study on role of food in peace agreements in the Journal of Peacebuilding & Development. The study is motivated by the fact that while food security is closely tied to conflict, to date, food security’s inclusion in peace agreementshas been relatively understudied. It addresses this gap, by first mapping the presence of food security-related provisions in contemporary peace agreements, and second, testing the effect of their inclusion on subsequent peace process progress and durability of peace. Analyzing peace agreements from the PA-X dataset, the authors find that food-related references are relatively rare, and often brief. However, when examining their inclusion in agreements in food-insecure environments, the authors find strong evidence that they are positively associated with progress in peace processes, and more qualified evidence that they are associated with a lower likelihood of subsequent violence. 

The published study is available open access on the Journal of Peacebuilding & Development's website, and is based on an earlier working paper published on the GDHP project site. 

On 5 March 2025, Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation GDHP team and the Irish Embassy in South Africa convened a policy roundtable to discuss how policy implementation can be strengthened to bring gender, food security, and GBV into the center of agricultural policy reform. The roundtable brought together key stakeholders, including the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, the Irish Ambassador to South Africa, government representatives, media, civil society organizations, the Embassy of Italy, and academic researchers. Discussions examined the inadequacies of South Africa’s legislative framework, the exploitative nature of commercial agriculture, and the urgent need for gender-responsive policies, derived from the project's recent study: A Promise not Fulfilled: GBV in South Africa’s Agricultural System. Read more...

The Gender Dimensions of Hunger in Peacebuilding (GDHP) research team convened in Dublin, Ireland in June 2024 to share the results from the ongoing project. The team met with policy and civil society stakeholders to disseminate findings from the recent working paper and policy brief on the integration of food security in the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda. Drawing on a mixed-methods review of existing WPS policy documents, the study found that food security is relatively neglected in the agenda, even when compared to other domains of human security, and in contexts that have experienced severe food crises. Read more...

Summary of Conflict and Hunger workshop in Dublin

Call for papers, 15 May 2024

Seminar with Naledi Joyi at UCD, 30 November 2023

Seminar with Liezelle Kumalo at UCD, 29 November 2023