Livelihood diversification has become a central feature of contemporary food systems, particularly in settings where climate stress, market volatility, conflict, displacement, and weak governance undermine food security and community resilience. Across many low- and middle-income countries, households increasingly rely on a combination of on-farm and off-farm activities to manage risk, stabilize income, and respond to rapid environmental and socioeconomic change. However, the relationship between livelihood diversification and food security remains uneven and highly context-specific. While diversification can strengthen resilience and improve well-being, not all pathways generate positive outcomes; in some cases, diversification reflects distress, constrained choice, or declining access to productive resources.

These dynamics are especially important when considered in relation to land access, land-use change, and broader food system transformation. Livelihood strategies are shaped not only by household assets and capabilities, but also by land tenure arrangements, environmental degradation, climate variability, market connectivity, rural–urban linkages, and institutional conditions. In conflict-affected and politically fragile settings, these pressures may be intensified by displacement, disrupted food supply systems, damaged infrastructure, and reduced access to land and other productive resources. As a result, food insecurity can deepen even where households pursue multiple livelihood strategies.

This Research Topic seeks to advance understanding of the drivers, patterns, and consequences of livelihood diversification in vulnerable and rapidly changing contexts. It aims to examine how diversification interacts with land systems and food security outcomes, how conflict and climate stress reshape adaptive capacity, and how governance and institutional failures contribute to persistent livelihood vulnerability. The topic also invites critical assessments of why progress toward Sustainable Development Goals related to poverty, hunger, inequality, sustainable communities, and life on land remains uneven despite longstanding global commitments, particularly in regions facing recurrent crises and structural constraints.

At the same time, the Research Topic encourages interdisciplinary and innovative methodological contributions (Khan, Ashraf and Shah, 2026; 2024) that deepen analysis of these challenges. We welcome empirical, theoretical, and methodological studies using approaches such as computational social science, spatial analysis, scenario modeling, and mixed methods, provided they remain clearly grounded in the interconnections among land, livelihoods, environment, and food security. Particular attention will be given to contributions that generate policy-relevant insights for strengthening resilience, supporting food system transformation, and advancing more sustainable and equitable development pathways.

This Research Topic is especially interested in studies focused on rural and peri-urban settings, as well as research examining rural–urban connectivity and cross-sectoral food-system linkages, where these are directly relevant to livelihoods, land dynamics, and food security.

Submissions may address, but are not limited to, the following themes:

• Determinants and patterns of livelihood diversification in changing land and food systems

• Relationships between livelihood diversification and household or regional food security

• Livelihood diversification in climate-vulnerable, conflict-prone, or displacement-affected contexts

• Food system transformation and resilience in conflict-affected regions, including but not limited to Iran, Ukraine, Gaza, and Sudan

• Land access, land tenure, and land-use change as drivers of livelihood adaptation and food security outcomes

• Trade-offs between agricultural intensification, diversification, environmental sustainability, and human well-being

• Governance, institutions, and policy failures shaping livelihood vulnerability and food insecurity

• Food sovereignty, displacement, and access to productive resources under conditions of conflict or political instability

• Rural–urban connectivity, migration, and multi-local livelihood strategies

• Computational, spatial, and interdisciplinary approaches to analyzing livelihood strategies, food security, and resilience

• Critical analyses of why SDG targets related to poverty, hunger, inequality, sustainable communities, and life on land remain unmet in vulnerable contexts

• Artificial intelligence and machine learning applications for predicting food security outcomes and modeling livelihood trajectories

• Governance failure, corruption, and institutional barriers as structural drivers of food insecurity

• Novel fuzzy, hybrid multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) models, such as those integrating q-rung orthopair fuzzy rough information with TOPSIS, for addressing uncertainty in food security analysis and policy prioritization.

We welcome Original Research, Systematic Reviews, Review articles, Methods, Policy Briefs, Policy and Practice Reviews, Perspectives, and Technology and Code contributions that offer empirical, conceptual, methodological, or policy-relevant insights into these urgent challenges.

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Exploring Livelihood Diversification's Role in Enhancing Food Security and Resilience in Diverse Contexts