Are Entitlements Enough? Understanding the Role of Financial Inclusion in Strengthening Food Security

Nisha Chanaliya, Sanchita Bansal and Dariusz Cichoń ()
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Nisha Chanaliya: University School of Management Studies, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Dwarka Sector 16C, New Delhi 110078, India
Sanchita Bansal: University School of Management Studies, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Dwarka Sector 16C, New Delhi 110078, India
Dariusz Cichoń: Department of Enterprise Management, AGH University of Science and Technology, 30-059 Krakow, Poland

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 17, 1-23

Abstract: In 2024, 28% of the global population experienced moderate or severe food insecurity. The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) 2024 report underscores that adequate and sustained financing is critical to achieving global food security and improved nutrition outcomes. Grounded in the entitlement theory, this study examines how financial inclusion can reinforce the relationship between entitlements and food security. The study conducts a systematic review research methodology to collect, interpret, and integrate 84 studies. The findings of the paper include a thematic map and a conceptual framework. The thematic map highlights the major themes of the research area. The conceptual framework illustrates how financial inclusion enhances key entitlements such as production, trade, labor, and aid, which help achieve the four dimensions of food security: availability, accessibility, utilization, and stability. The study contributes theoretically by extending both entitlement and capability theory, showing how financial services improve access to food and strengthen people’s capabilities. On the policy front, the study recommends enhancing digital infrastructure in rural areas, promoting sustainable agriculture, empowering women, and encouraging millet production through targeted subsidies and cash transfer schemes. The study also suggests future research directions to help address its limitations, such as the lack of empirical testing of the proposed relationships.

Keywords: food security; entitlements; financial inclusion; financial literacy; hunger; SDG2 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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