Rural livelihoods food security and rural transformation under climate change 5 1 introduction rural livelihoods in transition in 2017 34 billion people lived in rural areas most in low 15 and middle income 79 countriesi many deriving their income from small scale agriculture including fishing and livestock raising globally there are about 570 million. The assessment of the links between food security and livelihoods is central for overcoming widespread food insecurity however assessments remain challenging due to food securitys multi dimensionality and the challenge of finding indicators that are comparable and applicable to various contexts this study addresses this challenge by adapting a food security index fsi and uses it to assess the livelihood drivers of food security the index captures the multi dimensionality of food . This special section of food security presents international case studies exploring the vulnerability of rural livelihoods and the initiatives proposed to build resilience providing valuable insights into the practical challenges to assessing resilience in different contexts. This manuscript employs the widely accepted definition established during the 1996 world food summit according to which food security at the individual household national regional and global levels is achieved when all people at all times have physical and economic access to sufficient safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life food and agriculture organization of the united nations. Results from logistic models using individual mines as level of analysis suggest that the impact of mineral extraction on food security is gender and ownership specific mining operations decrease food availability among women in a substantial way while at the same time showing no significant or even a positive effect on mens access to food our instrumental variable models