In an era in which migration is increasingly at the centre of public debate and crucial to the decision-making process, more awareness on the existing links between food and migration is needed.

MacroGeo, a geopolitical research company, has conducted this research on the migration-food geopolitical nexus with the Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition Foundation (BCFN).

The aim of this research is to highlight the often underestimated link between food and migration. This link is investigated here by analysing every aspect that affects it, starting with geopolitical and economic contexts, demographic trends and the impact of climate change.

The main Euro Mediterranean regions are experiencing an unprecedented demographic transition. Analysing and managing this transition properly is key to developing solutions for the stability of societies on both shores of the Mediterranean.

Climate change is an important factor in assessing the past, present and future vulnerability of countries of origin, transit and destination of migrants. Over the long term, climate modifications across the Trans-Mediterranean region appear stronger than general global trends. In the future, in the Trans-Mediterranean region climate change and variability could lead to a warming around 0.7°C within the next couple of decades, which will more than double by 2050.

Current trends show that Sub-Saharan Africa is trapped in a Malthusian vicious circle, where poverty nourishes hunger, malnutrition and high infant mortality which, coupled with high fertility, imply a high rate of growth that generates more poverty. Sub-Saharan Africa’s food and demographic issues need to be tackled together, to break the circle.

A geopolitical and geoeconomic analysis of Africa’s main migration hubs shows that the continent still faces a challenging outlook. Phenomena of resource seizing (both water and land) affect public services, agriculture and development.

The main migratory routes across the Mediterranean and towards Europe are the Atlantic route, the Central Mediterranean Route, The Eastern Mediterranean Route and the Balkan Route. The infrastructure of migration often uses, as in Agadez, previous routes built for smuggling foodstuffs and labourers, and it fosters a thriving criminal economy. Migratory flows tend to react quite quickly and adapt to political and economic shifts occurring in the countries of origin, transit and destination, therefore they need to be constantly analysed.

Throughout history the Mediterranean emerged as a space of connectivity between civilizations, involving trade of people, ideas and goods, including the establishment of a series of food routes. The Roman Empire provides an example of this Mediterranean food infrastructure. In the current globalization of food markets, a key issue linking the two shores of the Mediterranean is the exploitation of cheap. The current experience with illegal employment and exploitation of agriculture workers (“caporalato”) is illustrated as a case study of this phenomenon.

This section highlights the crucial role played by efficient agro-food systems and sustainable value chains in fostering the economic growth of developing countries and the potential for stabilizing international and intra-national migrations around the world. Following findings of latest literature and from experience in the field, lacks in current value chains are presented with the aim to discuss and propose possible solutions able to introduce innovations, also through multi-stakeholders cooperation, and to boost environmental and social sustainability.

The rising consumption of ethnic food in the main EU countries can provide a glance of the change which will be provided by migration trends analyzed during the previous sections.

A list of case studies.

This study underlines that migrations flows from Africa to Europe (South-North migration through the Mediterranean Sea) are part of a structural challenge driven by a series of factors: geopolitical, demographic, environmental, and economic.

References about "Food and Migration".