Migration, circular mobility and food security in Nicaragua: An analytical framework based on food sourcing and farm household multi-localisation

Abstract

This article explores the links between agriculture, circular mobility, migration and food security in the Global South. It focuses on farm households in Nicaragua which, for generations, have engaged in diversified livelihood strategies including mobility and migration. The article proposes an original framework, based on the concept of multi-localised family food systems, to link household socio-spatial practices with food security. Multifactorial and cross-sectional analysis shows that household food security is the result of complex strategies combining agricultural practices, pluri-activity, economic diversification and the circulation of resources linked to migrant remittances and donations from networks and public policies. Although the links between migration, circular mobility and food security are neither linear nor systematic, our findings reveal that not only the maintenance of family farming but also the multi-localisation of households, circular mobility practices and migration play key roles in food supply and security. These findings suggest that public policies and the interventions of development agencies should take a better approach to support the food coping strategies of these multi-localised households, taking greater consideration of off-farm diversification, mobility and migration.