Local Crops and Household Food Security in Timor-Leste: A PRISMA-Guided Systematic Review and Food-Systems Synthesis

Vicente de Paulo Correia; Joana da Costa Freitas; Vicente Manuel Luis Guterres; Celso Ximenes

doi:10.55927/fjst.v5i2.14

Authors

Vicente de Paulo Correia Department of Agro Socio-Economy, Agriculture Faculty, National University of Timor Lorosa’e, Dili
Joana da Costa Freitas Departement of Animal Husbandry, Agriculture Faculty, National University of Timor Lorosa’e, Dili
Vicente Manuel Luis Guterres Faculty of Tourism, Arts, Creative Industries and Culture, National University of Timor Lorosae, Dili
Celso Ximenes Departement of Animal Husbandry, Agriculture Faculty, National University of Timor Lorosa’e, Dili

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55927/fjst.v5i2.14

Keywords:

Food Security, Local Crops, Food Systems, Systematic Review, Timor-Leste

Abstract

Food insecurity in Timor-Leste remains a chronic and seasonal condition that disproportionately affects rural households dependent on rain-fed subsistence agriculture, reflecting persistent structural weaknesses within local food systems. Although local crops have long supported traditional diets and household coping strategies, their integrated role in shaping food security outcomes has not been systematically consolidated across empirical research. This study aims to synthesize and interpret empirical evidence on the contribution of local crops to household food security in Timor-Leste using a food-systems perspective. A PRISMA-guided systematic literature review was conducted through structured searches of major academic databases, resulting in the inclusion of 40 eligible empirical studies that were analyzed using a narrative synthesis organized around the four dimensions of food security availability, utilization, and stability. The findings demonstrate that food insecurity is driven less by national food supply shortages than by seasonal production gaps, post-harvest losses, weak market integration, and increasing reliance on imported staples. Local crops, particularly maize, legumes, and wild foods, play a central role in stabilizing seasonal food availability, buffering household food shortages, and strengthening social coping mechanisms at the community level. The sustainability of these contributions is shaped by agroecological suitability, community-based seed systems, social, post-harvest management practices, and policy coherence across agriculture, nutrition, and market domains. The study concludes that repositioning local crops as socio-ecological assets within integrated and locally grounded food-systems strategies is essential for improving household food security and informing more effective and context-sensitive policy interventions

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