Impacts of COVID-19 responses on the political economy of African food systems : political economy analysis workshop report

Political economy research looks at how politics and economics shape one other: how power and resources are arranged among people, states and markets within an overall economic system. Where declining public investment in food and agriculture increases private sector control, governance of the food system becomes a product of power, politics and socio-economic inequality. The research examines politics of the responses being shaped by the structures of the food system in three countries (Ghana, Tanzania, South Africa) during the COVID-19 pandemic. What is the content and nature of national regulatory responses to the pandemic and how have these changed over time

Impacts of COVID-19 responses on the political economy of African food systems : food flows analysis workshop

The research interrogates how the functioning of the food system has changed under Covid-19, along with drivers of these changes, such as regulatory measures. It also aims to identify stakeholders that have benefited and those who have lost out, as well as the kinds of emerging impacts which are being experienced. The study interprets shifts in food flows from a political economy perspective. The workshops include consideration of changes that have affected different forms of social differentiation and related power dynamics, across factors including but not limited to: Social class; Race and perhaps ethnicity; Gender relations; Corporate versus informal and small business; Geography

Reflective report on final team meeting for the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) project on the impacts of Covid-19 responses on the political economy of African food systems

The workshop reflected on findings of researchers and civil-society activists from Ghana, Tanzania and South Africa. Key aspects of national food systems were neglected under Covid-19, particularly those where women, marginalised populations, and pastoralists were active participants. The pandemic and the responses to it exposed vulnerabilities to which little attention had previously been paid. In West Africa, food systems were vulnerable to shocks including in relation to climate change. Many challenges were experienced in cross-border trade. However, there was strong resilience at the local level during the crisis, while significant risks were related to extended supply chains

Impacts of COVID-19 responses on the political economy of African food systems : social reproduction analysis workshop report

The report addresses preliminary findings on social reproduction and the food system during the COVID-19 pandemic. Social reproduction theory considers relationships between what happens at work and what happens at home and how they influence each other (for instance: how workers are produced, as well as how goods are produced). The pressures on women for child care, the provision of food, and their role in food systems, along with all domestic burdens have been enormous. Country studies focus on Ghana, Tanzania and South Africa

Transforming food systems through food sovereignty: an Australian urban context

This article draws on La Via Campesina's definition of food sovereignty and its potential for reconceptualising food as a basic human right within the dominant Australian food discourse. We argue that the educative value that emerges from urban food production in Australia stems from the action of growing food and its capacity to transform individuals’ social and environmental concerns over food systems. Community participation in urban food production can promote a learning process that generates political understanding and concerns over food systems. We use the education theories of transformative learning and critical consciousness to discuss how Australian urban food production systems can create this social and environmental support for alternative food systems. By having control over food production practices and building collective understandings of how food choices impact global food systems, elements of food sovereignty can develop in an Australian urban context

Cluster: Food systems

The Danish Research Centre for Organic Farming (DARCOF) was established in 1995 as a so-called "centre without walls" where the actual research is performed in interdisciplinary collaboration between the participating research groups. The remit of DARCOF is to coordinate research for organic farming, with a view to achieving optimum benefit from the allocated resources. Its aim is to elucidate the ideas and problems faced in organic farming through the promotion of high quality research of international stan-dard

From uniformity to diversity: a paradigm shift from industrial agriculture to diversified agroecological systems

Today’s food and farming systems have succeeded in supplying large volumes of foods to global markets, but are generating negative outcomes on multiple fronts: widespread degradation of land, water and ecosystems; high GHG emissions; biodiversity losses; persistent hunger and micro-nutrient deficiencies alongside the rapid rise of obesity and diet-related diseases; and livelihood stresses for farmers around the world. Many of these problems are linked specifically to ‘industrial agriculture’: the input-intensive crop monocultures and industrial-scale feedlots that now dominate farming landscapes. The uniformity at the heart of these systems, and their reliance on chemical fertilizers, pesticides and preventive use of antibiotics, leads systematically to negative outcomes and vulnerabilities. What is required is a fundamentally different model of agriculture based on diversifying farms and farming landscapes, replacing chemical inputs, optimizing biodiversity and stimulating interactions between different species, as part of holistic strategies to build long-term fertility, healthy agro-ecosystems and secure livelihoods, i.e. ‘diversified agroecological systems’