Land concentration and food insecurity: the Colombian case

We assess the relationship between food insecurity and land inequality in Colombia during the period 2005–2015. We use spatially controlled system estimation at the level of Departamentos (subnational administrative units), verifying its advantages when compared to linear non-spatially controlled estimation. The analysis builds upon the idea that there is a direct impact of land inequality on food insecurity, besides its indirect impact through its effect on general inequality and poverty. The paper describes the historical-geographical processes that have determined high concentration of land ownership in Colombia, and subsequently, it uses regression analyses to verify that there is a spatially controlled effect of land inequality on food insecurity, and not the other way around. This result holds under different spatial specifications and the inclusion of corresponding control variables. The direct connection between these variables calls for policy measures that directly address land inequality as a food insecurity determinant, in addition to the indirect solution that current poverty alleviation policies might have on food insecurity.