Recent policy statements refer to increasingly frequent and intense shocks as one of the main reasons for
focusing attention and investments on building resilience for food and nutrition security. This paper
investigates whether shocks have actually increased in frequency, severity, scope, and impact by looking at
historical 25‐year trends for five different types of shocks: conflicts, natural disasters, climate change, food
price volatility, and health crises related to food safety and agriculture. Through its limited review, the paper
finds that while some shocks have not increased, others have become more severe or intense and are
projected to continue in the same direction in the near future, posing risks to the food and nutrition security of
poor and vulnerable people around the world.
Keywords: shocks, trends, resilience, conflict, climate change, natural disasters, volatility, food safety,
pandemics