It’s often assumed that in the modern era, food security is an achievable goal. But between 2007 and 2008, a confluence of conditions shook the international food system to its core, fueling unrest and riots in more than 40 nations around the world. What’s more, this “perfect storm” may have been only a harbinger of challenges to come, according to a new report by Emmy Simmons of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

“We are seeing floods, droughts, extreme weather events, migration of people across borders, as well as sea-level rise, and we are going to see increasing challenges,” says Wilson Center Senior Fellow Sherri Goodman in an interview with the German think tank, adelphi.

Large-scale land acquisitions, otherwise known as “land grabbing,” are often believed to lead to resistance from affected local communities. According to an article by Ruth Hall et al. in The Journal of Peasant Studies, however, “political reactions ‘from below’ to global land grabbing have been vastly more varied and complex than is usually assumed.”

In the first half of last year, 26,000 unaccompanied children were apprehended by U.S. law enforcement trying to cross the southern border. Most came from Central American states like El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. Such displacement is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of migration in the region. Many more are moving from rural to urban areas and into neighboring countries seeking opportunity and fleeing violence.

During the 2016 campaign President Trump stated that clean water would be a top priority of his administration, telling ScienceDebate.org “it may be the most important issue we face as a nation for the next generation.” Now is the time to make good on that commitment.