“No more at the edge”: refugees and local communities at the centre of development : a new approach to local integration and its impacts on food security

Abstract

This thesis explores the topic of local integration in protracted refugee situations with a special focus on the aspect of food security. It presents an overview of the multidimensional and complex nature of protracted refugee situations’ causes and consequences. In particular, it focuses on the impact of protracted displacement on the different dimensions of food security in refugee hosting areas. In order to maximize the potential benefits of protracted refugee situations, the thesis promotes to overcome existing humanitarian-dominated approaches and to adopt a developmental approach to local integration. Different attempts have been made within the international community to link humanitarian and development assistance, but the reality shows that little has changed and that the dominant paradigm in the response to PRS still tends to focus on short-term needs, emergency assistance and protection. Therefore, the relevance of the thesis lies in its attempt to outline a new way for dealing with local integration as a durable solution to PRS. In advocating the need to adopt a developmental approach to local integration, the thesis underlines how the abovementioned approach can be beneficial for host countries since it enhances refugees’ contribution to the economic and social development of RHAs, and in particular to the improvement of their food security.