Assessing the impact of shocks on food insecurity: An empirical analysis of the Asia-Pacific

This quantitative study is focused on researching the relationship between multifaceted shocks in food systems and resulting food insecurity measured through undernourishment prevalence in the Asia-Pacific region from 2002-2021. The contribution that this study makes to the literature is an in-depth analysis of shocks and resulting risk in food insecurity outcomes whereas traditional literature has placed greater emphasis on vulnerability & resilience studies. Utilising a panel data regression analysis fixed effects model, the results of this study show that unemployment and food price inflation shocks had the most statistically significant effects in increasing undernourishment prevalence throughout the region from 2002-2021, with food price inflation showing the stronger effect. Moreover, these results displayed that the access dimension of food insecurity is considered the most at-risk to increase the prevalence of food insecurity in the Asia Pacific region. Lastly, the study found that while shocks do have an impact, majority of the variation in undernourishment prevalence within Asia-Pacific from 2002-2021 is explained by long term systemic vulnerabilities and lack of resilient coping capacities. This study is characterised for its focus on specifically analysing shocks and resulting risk in food insecurity outcomes which adversely impacts food systems.