The HALO Trust, in partnership with the Eleanor Crook Foundation (ECF), has released a new policy paper highlighting the urgent and interconnected challenges of modern conflict, food insecurity, and malnutrition - and the critical role that integrated responses can play in breaking this cycle.
Despite decades of progress, malnutrition remains one of the leading threats to child survival. Malnutrition remains one of the most urgent and preventable threats to child survival globally, and recent global funding cuts risk reversing hard-won gains. Conflict is now the primary driver of acute food insecurity in the world’s most fragile contexts, disrupting food systems, displacing communities, and restricting access to life-saving nutrition services.
The paper underscores how explosive contamination - including landmines and unexploded ordnance - deepens these challenges. In many conflict-affected regions, unsafe land prevents families from farming, blocks access to markets and health facilities, and undermines the recovery of local food systems. As the report highlights:
"In fragile and conflict-affected states, food insecurity can intensify complex socio-economic, political and cultural pressures by deepening grievances, weakening community resilience, and
heightening social tensions that can spark unrest.
When conflict does erupt, it disrupts food systems, restricts access to nutritious food, and drives new waves of food insecurity."
Drawing on evidence from Afghanistan, Angola, Ukraine and other conflict-affected countries, the paper demonstrates how demining can unlock agricultural recovery, strengthen food security, and enable the delivery of essential nutrition services. In Angola, for example, clearance has led to a 199% increase in crop income and a 58% rise in investment in agricultural inputs - showing that safe land is a foundation for long-term resilience.
The policy paper sets out practical recommendations for the UK Government, building on its global leadership in both nutrition and humanitarian mine action. These include:
- Integrating nutrition, humanitarian, development and peacebuilding strategies under the UK’s commitment to the Global Compact on Nutrition Integration.
- Scaling up support for nutrition services in conflict and post‑conflict settings, including addressing gaps in Ready‑to‑Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF).
- Embedding mine action within food security and nutrition strategies, recognising demining as a prerequisite for sustainable recovery.
- Leveraging platforms such as the Child Nutrition Fund to coordinate financing and accelerate delivery of life‑saving supplies.
- Strengthening joint assessments and referral systems between mine action teams and nutrition services.
At a time when more than two billion people live in places affected by violent conflict, the paper calls for a more coherent approach that aligns UK defence, diplomacy and development efforts. By integrating demining with nutrition and food security programming, the UK can deliver better value for money, support long‑term stability, and help communities rebuild their livelihoods.
