This study has its origin in discussions about the analysis and practice of food security in protracted conflicts (de Waal, 1997; Flores, Khwaja and White, 2005; Seddon and Adhikari, 2003). Research in this field has revealed a critical paradox, or “policy gap”, between the analysis of food insecurity and policy response. Although it is increasingly acknowledged that situations of food insecurity are generated by a complex and dynamic set of causes, responses to food crises still tend to be driven by a one dimensional understanding of these crises.