Natural disasters, population growth, social conflicts, and political or structural crises give rise to forced migrations, which can lead to humanitarian emergencies. According to the “UNHCR annual global trends report”, 65.6 million people were displaced at the end of 2016, which is the largest number of refugees or internally displaced persons on record. In this context, the issue of food security plays a central role. In fact, insufficient access to food and potable water leads to malnutrition and poor health, enhances various causes of mortality, and creates a state of permanent emergency.Access to energy is a crucial factor in addressing major challenges in humanitarian and refugee settings. Globally, over 1.3 billion people lack access to electricity and 2.6 billion people are without clean cooking facilities. More than 95% of these people live in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia,and 84% are in communities not reliably connected to energy grids.Given this challenge, we urgently need sustainable energy technologies to provide efficient, reliable and equitable access to basic services such as cooking, food preservation, medical services and water supply. Research on the optimization of appropriate technologies for sustainable access to energy services is, therefore, pivotal. The papers in this special section on energy and food security clearly illustrate the fact that one single solution based on a pre-determined technology mix does not exist. However, a number of promising developments are underway, using appropriate technologies that match needs with available resources in a sustainable way