2b. Food Sovereignty and Sustainable Agriculture

Track Chairs:

Raymond Auerbach. Nelson Mandela University, South Africa. Raymond.Auerbach@nmmu.ac.za

Olawale Emmanuel Olayide. Centre for Sustainable Development, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. waleolayide@yahoo.com, oe.olayide@ui.edu.ng

Alex Franklin. Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience (CAWR), Coventry University, UK. alex.franklin@coventry.ac.uk

Olga-Lucia Castillo. Rural and Regional Development, School of Environmental and Rural Studies, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana. Bogotá - Colombia. olga.castillo@javeriana.edu.co

Adrian Morley. Research Fellow, Faculty of Business and Law, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK. A.morley@mmu.ac.uk

Goals and objectives of the track

Agricultural production has reached a point where radical transformation is necessary if food quality, food security and food sovereignty are to serve the needs of humanity.  The industrial model of production and processing produces cheap food which increasingly costs the environment and the healthcare system dearly.  Agriculture is essential for generating broad-based growth necessary for sustainable development. Agricultural production is also fundamental to the sustenance of life and is the bedrock of rural economic and industrial development, especially in the provision of adequate and nutritious food so vital for human development and raw material for industries. In most developing economies, agriculture accounts for a substantial proportion of foreign exchange earnings and employs much of the active labour force. Similarly, agricultural production (food crops, livestock, fisheries and forestry) promotes rural incomes which in turn enhance rural welfare especially in developing and emerging economies. The developed countries on the other hand are faced with challenges of intensive agriculture, unemployment and environmental concerns.

The goal of this track is to discuss key concepts, methods and applications in sustainable agriculture and food sovereignty. Papers that address such issues as the opportunities of and challenges to meeting the nutritional and welfare demands of the increasing global population in a sustainable way will be welcomed.

This track also explores the role, practices and experiences of small scale grassroots food growing initiatives, as well as the wider multi-scalar network-based interventions of agroecological food movements. It invites contributions which review the actions and ambitions of such stakeholders in disrupting existing unsustainable systems of food growing and provisioning, and endeavouring to secure more just and sustainable practices of production, access and supply.

The ability of small scale farmers to operate more or less formally, and often in the context of minimal property rights, increases their resilience to and potential compatibility with, a full range of environmental conditions and contexts. This accounts for the diverse range of social networks, alternative value chains and innovative trading systems, with which they interact, stimulate, reinvigorate and sustain. More research is required, however, to help us better understand the socio-spatial, political, and relational geographies of such local and alternative food initiatives and movements. There is also much to be gained by further investigating, comparing, and where relevant contrasting, the shared practices, spaces, knowledges and cultural conceptions of food sovereignty and sustainable food production across the northern and southern hemispheres, as well as rural and urban settings. Related theoretical, conceptual and empirical concerns arise with regards to understanding the significance and potential of grassroots and alternative food movements in bringing about transformations capable of benefiting even the most vulnerable of societal groups; identifying possibilities for new (more sustainable and socially innovative) types of production and consumption relations; and fitting these empirical expressions into broader concepts of societal transition, adaptation and justice at both a local and global scale.

Accordingly, we invite submissions from various disciplines, in the context of (but not limited to) agroecological concerns including:

  • Global food systems
  • Short supply chains
  • Food sovereignty
  • Alternative food movements
  • Urban food growing
  • Farming systems and health
  • Nutrition
  • Food policy

 


 

Raymond Auerbach has worked on agro-ecology for fifty years. He farmed organically in Australia and South Africa for twenty years, trained organic farmers for fifteen years and now works in organic research, organic food systems and food security. He is a professor of soil science and plant production at Nelson Mandela University and he and his wife Christina work on sustainable food production, mindfulness education and renewable energy in South Africa.

Olawale Emmanuel Olayide holds a PhD in Agricultural Economics from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. He works at the University of Ibadan Centre for Sustainable Development. He is currently a Research Fellow and Sub-Dean at the Centre. He is a diligent, versatile and enterprising scholar. He possesses demonstrable competencies in academic leadership, research and administration. Olawale has authored over 30 publications in form of edited books, chapters in books, peer-reviewed journal articles and monographs (https://goo.gl/llYLkt, https://goo.gl/l7E7dl, http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3151-0807). Olawale is a Member of the Board of the International Sustainable Development Research Society and the Chairperson of the Thematic Working Group on Africa. He is also the Editor of the African Journal of Sustainable Development. Olawale is a Member of the Continental Group on the Biennial Reporting Process of the Malabo Declaration of the African Union Commission.

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