Less Conflict, More Food Security: A Case Study of Cauca, Colombia

This paper investigates the relationship between conflict and food security in Cauca, Colombia. We take advantage of a natural experiment generated by the 2014 ceasefire declared by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the largest rebel group in the country. The ceasefire resulted in a steep decline in FARC-related violence, which was further solidified when the Colombian government and FARC reached a peace agreement in 2016. We classify our study municipalities in Cauca into those highly exposed to FARC-related violence at baseline (treated) and those with low exposure (control). Using difference-in-differences, we find that in the short run, households in treated municipalities are more food secure than those in control municipalities: the treatment is associated with a 51% drop in the proportion of households experiencing hunger. The effects vary within members of the household, with children showing larger improvements in diet quality and quantity than adults. We also find suggestive evidence that the gains in food security persist seems to have persisted in the medium term, five years after the peace agreement. By conducting a case study of Cauca, this study fills an important gap in the literature, which has so far obscured local understandings of the food security-conflict nexus.