As a human right, food security entails physical and economic access to adequate-quality food (The Right to Adequate Food (Art. 11), 1999), and represents an imperative of community autonomy and social dignity. It integrates agency as a central axis, enabling populations to help shape their own food systems (High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition, 2020). Although the FAO (2025) reports progress in global food resilience, hunger persists and is increasing in Africa and in Latin America and the Caribbean, highlighting the inadequacy of current global strategies.At the global level, strategies such as the agroecological transition and the promotion of the circular economy have addressed the issue; however, the sustainability of food systems remains structurally challenged. Beyond technical or educational constraints, political limitations persist in local production and consumption (García Bustamante however, this multilevel governance approach requires genuine participation and a willingness to engage in dialogue from public officials (Mendoza Carreón, 2025). We propose that an integrated food governance approach would address policy gaps in practice (Candel Sanjuán, 2023).Nevertheless, barriers to its implementation remain, and social identity can facilitate the transition to fairer food systems. Bauermeister (2016) argues that collective identity helps overcome gaps and foster sustainability in local food systems. Poeggel (2022) states that collective identity creates a sense of belonging that is vital for the success or failure of food projects. Thus, it is argued that integrating the community into decision-making, through multilevel governance that considers its collective identity and knowledge, enables a transition toward local food resilience. In this sense, the manuscript contributes to current debates by linking two concepts that have been analyzed in isolation: multilevel governance and social identity, as a dynamic duo that enhances local food resilience. Institutional Barriers in Food Systems Within these structural constraints, the sustainability of food systems faces challenges that extend beyond the technical and educational dimensions. As García-Bustamante and Gracia (2022) warn, a set of political constraints affecting local production and consumption persists, along with institutional barriers rooted in centralized budgets, rigid regulatory frameworks, and bureaucratic practices detached from community realities.In this context, traditional knowledge emerges as a strategic resource. It constitutes a complex system of territorial and ecological management accumulated over generations, encompassing polyculture techniques, the conservation of native seeds, and agricultural calendars based on observing natural phenomena (Catalán women, as the primary custodians of knowledge on seed selection, food processing, and traditional medicine, play a fundamental role in food resilience. However, these contributions are often marginalized and undervalued within prevailing institutional frameworks (Ramirez-Santos et al., 2023).In light of this scenario, it is essential to adopt governance frameworks that overcome these barriers.An integrated food governance approach, as proposed by Candel and Pereira (2017), provides a framework for closing policy gaps from practice, strengthening the community fabric, and granting communities genuine decision-making capacity (Glass in doing so, it integrates stakeholders and redistributes power (Jani et al., 2022). It has been suggested that multilevel governance, together with a comprehensive food system approach, enhances sustainability; to this end, coordination among administrative levels and between urban and rural municipalities is required, as well as alignment between policy objectives and instruments (López-García et al., 2024).This article argues that multilevel governance is a pathway to more resilient food systems, as it integrates not only legal aspects but also deepens the systemic connections among actors in agri-food systems; furthermore, it is strengthened by social identity, traditional knowledge, and innovation in sustainable policies. As Lamine (2015) indicates, achieving sustainability and resilience in agri-food systems requires an approach that integrates agriculture, food, and the environment, involves stakeholders, their networks, and their governance, and takes into account their history, culture, beliefs, and surrounding context.In this regard, social identity is a fundamental pillar of sustainable change in agri-food systems, particularly among consumers, as it fosters responsible food consumption (Leyva-Hernández et al., 2023). Moreover, it has been shown that at the micro level, within the family context, it is possible to develop sustainable and resilient agricultural strategies (Chao, 2024). In line with this, traditional knowledge and innovation, together with food system diversification, enable small-scale farmers maintain resilience in the face of natural disasters (Varyvoda furthermore, it should include the variables of social identity, ancestral knowledge, and food resilience. In this regard, a mixed-methods approach is suggested, beginning with a qualitative study. Another limitation of this study was its limited context, as it focused on rural communities in Latin America. However, the literature suggests that in other contexts, such as Europe, multilevel governance can promote the transition to sustainable food systems.
Leyva-Hernández et al. (Tue,) studied this question.