Kristen Lyons is Professor in environment and development sociology based at the University of Queensland. She has served in advisory roles with community organisations, as well as the State and Federal Government. She is also a senior research fellow with the Californian based Oakland Institute.
Climate change is widely recognised as one of the biggest threats to livelihoods, security and we... more Climate change is widely recognised as one of the biggest threats to livelihoods, security and wellbeing in the Pacific. Carbon markets represent one of a number of global responses, with projects expanding across the Pacific in recent years. This paper focuses upon carbon offset activities in Solomon Islands, including sustainable forestry for carbon trading initiatives. As signatory to the Paris Agreement, Solomon Islands has expanded its activities to support preparedness for entry into global carbon markets, demonstrated via national-level carbonisation of forestry governance. In the context of a resource constrained state, non government organisations (NGOs) occupy a central role in Solomon Islands carbon forestry governance. This paper documents some of the national and international policy settings and policies driving expansion of carbon markets. It takes the case study of Choiseul Province to examine gender sensitive livelihood initiatives introduced by one local NGO, the Natural Resources Development Foundation (NRDF), as part of preparedness for entry into carbon market initiatives, referred to as REDD type projects. Findings demonstrate positive outcomes associated with livelihood projects-including for women-accrue regardless of participation in carbon markets. The paper argues that climate change mitigation strategies that take a gender sensitive approach, alongside centring local assets, visions and possibilities, as well as the maintenance of communally owned and managed forest resources, are well placed to deliver positive on-ground impacts in Choiseul Province. These findings provide insights for future policy and planning in the Pacific in an era of climate constraint.
Carbon markets have emerged globally as a central feature in market based strategies to address t... more Carbon markets have emerged globally as a central feature in market based strategies to address the climate crisis. Global trade in carbon is based on the premise that it is possible to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions and stabilise the earth's climate, while at the same time generating new forms of capital accumulation. Amongst carbon market initiatives includes Reduction of Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) type projects, that connect peasant and subsistence farmers in the south with northern consumers and industries. These projects are expanding on the African continent, giving rise to social, economic and ecological impacts. In this article we chart the responses of social movements to carbon markets. Through a study of selected NGOs active in carbon market campaigns in Uganda, we examine the strategies and tactics of movements in responding to the expanding carbon economy. Our findings demonstrate NGOs' approaches move between, and across, reformist and rebel (or radical) change agendas. Dominant strategies are directed towards reforming carbon markets and associated forestry governance. Meanwhile, a rebel, or radical change agenda – including rejecting the language and ideology of carbon trade, alongside building autonomous local level rights based movements – emerges in the constrained spaces of both privatised green economic governance and a militarised state. Given the constrained opportunities for radical movement organising, and the frequent institutionalization and limited influence of NGOs, increasing understandings of these radical change agendas and their contributions for re-imagining alternative sustainabilities is significant for scholars, activists and practitioners alike. Résumé Les marchés du carbone sont apparus globalement comme un élément central des stratégies basées sur le marché pour faire face à la crise climatique. Le commerce mondial du carbone repose sur le principe qu'il est possible de réduire les émissions mondiales de gaz à effet de serre et de stabiliser le climat de la terre tout en générant de nouvelles formes d'accumulation de capital. Parmi les initiatives du marché du carbone figurent les projets de réduction des émissions provenant du déboisement et de la dégradation (REDD), qui relient les paysans et les agriculteurs de subsistance du Sud aux consommateurs et aux industries du Nord. Ces projets se développent sur le continent africain, donnant lieu à des impacts sociaux, économiques et écologiques. Dans cet article, nous répertorions les résonances des mouvements sociaux sur les marchés du carbone. Grâce à une étude de certaines ONG actives dans les campagnes sur le marché du carbone en Ouganda, nous examinons leurs stratégies et leurs tactiques, et comment elles réagissent à l'expansion de l'économie du carbone. Nos résultats démontrent que les approches des ONGs se déplacent entre les programmes «de réforme» et «rebelles» ou «radicaux». Les stratégies dominantes visent à réformer les marchés du carbone et la gouvernance forestière associée. Entre-temps, un programme rebelle ou radical-y compris le rejet de la langue et de l'idéologie du commerce du carbone, ainsi que la construction de mouvements autonomes au niveau local soutenant les droits de l'homme-émergent dans les espaces restreints de la gouvernance économique verte privatisée et un État militarisé. Il existe des possibilités restreintes d'organiser des mouvements radicaux, et l'institutionnalisation fréquente et l'influence limitée des ONG. Mais la compréhension croissante de ces programmes radicaux de changement et de leurs contributions pour réinventer des modes de vie alternatifs est importante pour les chercheurs, les militants et les praticiens. Mots clés: Marchés du carbone, REDD, Ouganda, alternatives de durabilité Resumen De manera global, los mercados de carbono han surgido como una característica central en las estrategias de mercado para hacer referencia a la crisis climática. El mercado global en carbono, tiene como premisa la posibilidad de reducir las emisiones globales de gas invernadero y estabilizar el clima terrestre, mientras que al mismo tiempo se generen nuevas formas de acumulación de capital. Entre las iniciativas de mercados de carbono se incluyen proyectos de Reducción de Emisiones de Deforestación y Degradación (REDD) los cuales conectan a campesinos y agricultores de subsistencia en el sur con consumidores e industrias del norte. En el continente africano, estos proyectos se están expandiendo y están provocando impactos sociales, económicos y ecológicos. En este artículo trazamos movimientos en respuesta a mercados de carbono. A través de un estudio de varias ONGs que tienen actividad en campañas relacionadas con mercados de carbono en Uganda, examinamos las estrategias y tácticas de los movimientos que surgen en respuesta a la creciente economía de carbono. Nuestros hallazgos demuestran que los acercamientos de las ONGs se mueven entre y a través de agendas de cambio radicales o de reforma y rebeldía. Las estrategias que dominan están dirigidas a la reforma de los mercados de carbono y de gobernanza forestal asociada. Mientras tanto, una agenda de cambio radical o rebelde-que incluye el rechazo al lenguaje y la ideología del comercio de carbono, a la par de construir movimientos locales autónomos basados en los derechos-surge en los constreñidos espacios de gobernanza económica verde privatizada y el estado militarizado. Dadas las constreñidas oportunidades para la organización de movimientos radicales, y la frecuente institucionalización y limitada influencia de las NGOs, el incremento en el entendimiento de estas agendas radicales de cambio y sus contribuciones para la re-imaginación de sustentabilidades alternativas, se vuelven relevantes para académicos, activistas y profesionistas por igual.
Private sector investment has become increasingly central to development in the global south, and... more Private sector investment has become increasingly central to development in the global south, and in recent years these interventions have taken a 'green' turn. This is demonstrated via investment in economic activities associated with environmental claims, including plantation forestry and carbon trading initiatives. Many of these green initiatives represent market-based responses to climate change that rely upon the implementation of mitigation strategies in the global south to offset industrial and polluting activities in the global north. In this paper we explore the activities of Green Resources, the largest plantation forestry operator on the African continent. Through an examination of the activities of Green Resources in Uganda, this paper argues that while private sector international investment in plantation forestry for carbon offsetting is widely supported as responding to the nation's environmental crisis, it is part of a carbon colonialism and neoliberal land grab. There are profound adverse local livelihood outcomes that arise on the basis of this carbon colo-nialism. After discussing these themes in turn, this paper concludes that the commodification and fet-ishing of carbon via global carbon markets disconnects northern-based carbon credit consumers from adverse local livelihood impacts for those living in, and adjacent to, forestry plantations. These impacts point to the limits of northesouth market-based green development interventions as solutions to climate change.
This article analyses the sustainability school (SS) program of the National Association of Profe... more This article analyses the sustainability school (SS) program of the National Association of Professional Environmentalists (NAPE), Uganda. The focus is on how the social network, enabled by the SS program, fosters social and transformative learning. The significance of this approach to community-based education for social change, including in the context of resource conflict and displacement, is considered. Findings focus on the local-level impacts of the program, including the ways in which collective and community organizing, and educational methodology shape both social and transformative learning. Discussion considers the importance of not only the " social " element of transformative learning but the need—within conflict and dangerous contexts—to link the social explicitly to building organization and a social movement that provides a structural container for people to engage in critical thinking and social action.
This paper provides a reflexive account of engagement in activist/academic organic agri-food rese... more This paper provides a reflexive account of engagement in activist/academic organic agri-food research in Uganda. I argue that critical engagement across the third space – between and across activist and academic subjectivities – enables a rethinking of the subjectivities of activist/academics and research participants and the place of research in social change and theory building. I demonstrate some of the multiple ways of enacting activism within the academy by reflecting on my critical engagement with the Katuulo Organic Pineapple Cooperative in Uganda, whose members grow certified organic pineapples for sale on the international market. While there is a growing interest in critical activist research, its agenda is also constrained by the corporatist turn in universities. As such, the subjectivities, methods and theory building of activist/academics in agri-food (and other) research represents part of the resistance to normalised ways of doing and being in contemporary neo-liberal universities.
In this article we take the case study of Green Resources, a Norwegian private company engaged in... more In this article we take the case study of Green Resources, a Norwegian private company engaged in plantation forestry for the production of timber and the sale of carbon credits in two Central Forest Reserves in Uganda. Drawing on fieldwork conducted during 2012 and 2013 we examine the deployment of community development by the company within the context of what is known as the green economy. Green Resources has been chosen as a case study given its scale, and the broad range of activities it refers to as community development. Our findings explore some of the ambiguities, contestations and complexities within this deployment of community development. This case study analysis provides in-depth insights into broader development trends occurring within the context of a relatively new form of economic activity, understood as the green economy – encompassing market-based initiatives that are broadly recognized as environmentally responsible. Findings indicate a gap between the claims of community development and the lived reality amongst affected villagers. Such a gap has implications for critical scholarship in relation to deployment of community
In recognition of the opportunities associated with climate change, the finance sector have engag... more In recognition of the opportunities associated with climate change, the finance sector have engaged in market based activities via the acquisition of land for ecosystem services, such as biofuel production or forestry for carbon sequestration. Many of these investments are global in scope; with finance capital from the Global North directed into the acquisition of land in the global South. We take the case study of the self-proclaimed largest plantation forestry operator on the African continent, the Norwegian company, Green Resources and their Ugandan land acquisition, to explore, firstly, the claims-making associated with the expanding financialisation of land and natural resources and secondly, the new corporate enclosures engendered via such companies' participation in the expanding carbon economy. Our findings show that investor claims regarding the economic development and environmental sustainability at the site level do not match with the lived reality of Ugandan villagers at the investment site. Whilst carbon capture is possible, it is outweighed by a suite of social and environment ills, including forced dispossession, biodiversity loss and chemical pollution.
This paper uses a case study of smallholder teak forestry in the Pacific Islands nation of Solomo... more This paper uses a case study of smallholder teak forestry in the Pacific Islands nation of Solomon Islands to evaluate difficulties that can arise when foreign expertise fails to take sufficient account of local episte-mology and practices when implementing market based community level development. The planting of community level smallholder teak is widespread in the Solomon Islands and has the potential to address some of the environmental and livelihood damage done by years of indiscriminate logging. Attempts by successive Australian Government aid programs to better manage plantations for maximum yield and marketability have largely failed as competing livelihood priorities; differing philosophies on long term compounding returns and deferred income; and the geographical challenges of accessing markets have all conspired to prevent this high value timber from being grown to its full potential. We use the theories of indigenous epistemology to highlight the ways in which failure to properly integrate economic activity according to the culture and values of communities can mean that initiatives such as this will struggle to succeed.
This article brings to light one aspect of alternative agri-food practices by exploring the value... more This article brings to light one aspect of alternative agri-food practices by exploring the values and meanings domestic food producers associate with their actions, thereby making a small contribution to increasing understanding of the act of urban backyard food production. While Australian backyards have long been productive spaces, there has been little examination of this phenomenon in the Australian context. Limited quantitative data give some insight into the extent of domestic production, and while there is an increasing interest in certain aspects of the local food system, including community gardens and farmers markets, there is a dearth of literature that explores the contemporary act of domestic production. This work seeks to situate the act of domestic production within the broader movement calling for change within the global food system, particularly that being articulated by the food sovereignty movement. Drawing on Gibson –Graham's diverse economies framework, and through interviews with eight domestic food producers in one Australian city, this work finds that the act of growing food at home offers space for hope – where small acts can be seen as part of the broader food sovereignty movement seeking to remake our food system.
Food movement advocates articulate a diversity of approaches to address the current food crisis. ... more Food movement advocates articulate a diversity of approaches to address the current food crisis. These approaches resonate with both food security and food sovereignty discourses and range between reform and radical rights-based theories of change. This paper draws from research with urban food advocates in Australia to provide insights into the relations between tactics to change food systems and their resonance with food security and food sovereignty discourses. On the basis of this analysis, the paper concludes that tactics for social change – or the food politics enacted by urban food advocates – both converge and diverse with food security and food sovereignty discourses. These outcomes point to the diversity of approaches for identifying and evaluating pathways for rebuilding food systems.
... of applications across the food system, nanotechnological innovations appear to have greater ... more ... of applications across the food system, nanotechnological innovations appear to have greater potential to support certain aspects of 'quality'food production and distribution, such as through the use of nano-packaging for transportation of high-value foods, reduced application ...
Climate change is widely recognised as one of the biggest threats to livelihoods, security and we... more Climate change is widely recognised as one of the biggest threats to livelihoods, security and wellbeing in the Pacific. Carbon markets represent one of a number of global responses, with projects expanding across the Pacific in recent years. This paper focuses upon carbon offset activities in Solomon Islands, including sustainable forestry for carbon trading initiatives. As signatory to the Paris Agreement, Solomon Islands has expanded its activities to support preparedness for entry into global carbon markets, demonstrated via national-level carbonisation of forestry governance. In the context of a resource constrained state, non government organisations (NGOs) occupy a central role in Solomon Islands carbon forestry governance. This paper documents some of the national and international policy settings and policies driving expansion of carbon markets. It takes the case study of Choiseul Province to examine gender sensitive livelihood initiatives introduced by one local NGO, the Natural Resources Development Foundation (NRDF), as part of preparedness for entry into carbon market initiatives, referred to as REDD type projects. Findings demonstrate positive outcomes associated with livelihood projects-including for women-accrue regardless of participation in carbon markets. The paper argues that climate change mitigation strategies that take a gender sensitive approach, alongside centring local assets, visions and possibilities, as well as the maintenance of communally owned and managed forest resources, are well placed to deliver positive on-ground impacts in Choiseul Province. These findings provide insights for future policy and planning in the Pacific in an era of climate constraint.
Carbon markets have emerged globally as a central feature in market based strategies to address t... more Carbon markets have emerged globally as a central feature in market based strategies to address the climate crisis. Global trade in carbon is based on the premise that it is possible to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions and stabilise the earth's climate, while at the same time generating new forms of capital accumulation. Amongst carbon market initiatives includes Reduction of Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) type projects, that connect peasant and subsistence farmers in the south with northern consumers and industries. These projects are expanding on the African continent, giving rise to social, economic and ecological impacts. In this article we chart the responses of social movements to carbon markets. Through a study of selected NGOs active in carbon market campaigns in Uganda, we examine the strategies and tactics of movements in responding to the expanding carbon economy. Our findings demonstrate NGOs' approaches move between, and across, reformist and rebel (or radical) change agendas. Dominant strategies are directed towards reforming carbon markets and associated forestry governance. Meanwhile, a rebel, or radical change agenda – including rejecting the language and ideology of carbon trade, alongside building autonomous local level rights based movements – emerges in the constrained spaces of both privatised green economic governance and a militarised state. Given the constrained opportunities for radical movement organising, and the frequent institutionalization and limited influence of NGOs, increasing understandings of these radical change agendas and their contributions for re-imagining alternative sustainabilities is significant for scholars, activists and practitioners alike. Résumé Les marchés du carbone sont apparus globalement comme un élément central des stratégies basées sur le marché pour faire face à la crise climatique. Le commerce mondial du carbone repose sur le principe qu'il est possible de réduire les émissions mondiales de gaz à effet de serre et de stabiliser le climat de la terre tout en générant de nouvelles formes d'accumulation de capital. Parmi les initiatives du marché du carbone figurent les projets de réduction des émissions provenant du déboisement et de la dégradation (REDD), qui relient les paysans et les agriculteurs de subsistance du Sud aux consommateurs et aux industries du Nord. Ces projets se développent sur le continent africain, donnant lieu à des impacts sociaux, économiques et écologiques. Dans cet article, nous répertorions les résonances des mouvements sociaux sur les marchés du carbone. Grâce à une étude de certaines ONG actives dans les campagnes sur le marché du carbone en Ouganda, nous examinons leurs stratégies et leurs tactiques, et comment elles réagissent à l'expansion de l'économie du carbone. Nos résultats démontrent que les approches des ONGs se déplacent entre les programmes «de réforme» et «rebelles» ou «radicaux». Les stratégies dominantes visent à réformer les marchés du carbone et la gouvernance forestière associée. Entre-temps, un programme rebelle ou radical-y compris le rejet de la langue et de l'idéologie du commerce du carbone, ainsi que la construction de mouvements autonomes au niveau local soutenant les droits de l'homme-émergent dans les espaces restreints de la gouvernance économique verte privatisée et un État militarisé. Il existe des possibilités restreintes d'organiser des mouvements radicaux, et l'institutionnalisation fréquente et l'influence limitée des ONG. Mais la compréhension croissante de ces programmes radicaux de changement et de leurs contributions pour réinventer des modes de vie alternatifs est importante pour les chercheurs, les militants et les praticiens. Mots clés: Marchés du carbone, REDD, Ouganda, alternatives de durabilité Resumen De manera global, los mercados de carbono han surgido como una característica central en las estrategias de mercado para hacer referencia a la crisis climática. El mercado global en carbono, tiene como premisa la posibilidad de reducir las emisiones globales de gas invernadero y estabilizar el clima terrestre, mientras que al mismo tiempo se generen nuevas formas de acumulación de capital. Entre las iniciativas de mercados de carbono se incluyen proyectos de Reducción de Emisiones de Deforestación y Degradación (REDD) los cuales conectan a campesinos y agricultores de subsistencia en el sur con consumidores e industrias del norte. En el continente africano, estos proyectos se están expandiendo y están provocando impactos sociales, económicos y ecológicos. En este artículo trazamos movimientos en respuesta a mercados de carbono. A través de un estudio de varias ONGs que tienen actividad en campañas relacionadas con mercados de carbono en Uganda, examinamos las estrategias y tácticas de los movimientos que surgen en respuesta a la creciente economía de carbono. Nuestros hallazgos demuestran que los acercamientos de las ONGs se mueven entre y a través de agendas de cambio radicales o de reforma y rebeldía. Las estrategias que dominan están dirigidas a la reforma de los mercados de carbono y de gobernanza forestal asociada. Mientras tanto, una agenda de cambio radical o rebelde-que incluye el rechazo al lenguaje y la ideología del comercio de carbono, a la par de construir movimientos locales autónomos basados en los derechos-surge en los constreñidos espacios de gobernanza económica verde privatizada y el estado militarizado. Dadas las constreñidas oportunidades para la organización de movimientos radicales, y la frecuente institucionalización y limitada influencia de las NGOs, el incremento en el entendimiento de estas agendas radicales de cambio y sus contribuciones para la re-imaginación de sustentabilidades alternativas, se vuelven relevantes para académicos, activistas y profesionistas por igual.
Private sector investment has become increasingly central to development in the global south, and... more Private sector investment has become increasingly central to development in the global south, and in recent years these interventions have taken a 'green' turn. This is demonstrated via investment in economic activities associated with environmental claims, including plantation forestry and carbon trading initiatives. Many of these green initiatives represent market-based responses to climate change that rely upon the implementation of mitigation strategies in the global south to offset industrial and polluting activities in the global north. In this paper we explore the activities of Green Resources, the largest plantation forestry operator on the African continent. Through an examination of the activities of Green Resources in Uganda, this paper argues that while private sector international investment in plantation forestry for carbon offsetting is widely supported as responding to the nation's environmental crisis, it is part of a carbon colonialism and neoliberal land grab. There are profound adverse local livelihood outcomes that arise on the basis of this carbon colo-nialism. After discussing these themes in turn, this paper concludes that the commodification and fet-ishing of carbon via global carbon markets disconnects northern-based carbon credit consumers from adverse local livelihood impacts for those living in, and adjacent to, forestry plantations. These impacts point to the limits of northesouth market-based green development interventions as solutions to climate change.
This article analyses the sustainability school (SS) program of the National Association of Profe... more This article analyses the sustainability school (SS) program of the National Association of Professional Environmentalists (NAPE), Uganda. The focus is on how the social network, enabled by the SS program, fosters social and transformative learning. The significance of this approach to community-based education for social change, including in the context of resource conflict and displacement, is considered. Findings focus on the local-level impacts of the program, including the ways in which collective and community organizing, and educational methodology shape both social and transformative learning. Discussion considers the importance of not only the " social " element of transformative learning but the need—within conflict and dangerous contexts—to link the social explicitly to building organization and a social movement that provides a structural container for people to engage in critical thinking and social action.
This paper provides a reflexive account of engagement in activist/academic organic agri-food rese... more This paper provides a reflexive account of engagement in activist/academic organic agri-food research in Uganda. I argue that critical engagement across the third space – between and across activist and academic subjectivities – enables a rethinking of the subjectivities of activist/academics and research participants and the place of research in social change and theory building. I demonstrate some of the multiple ways of enacting activism within the academy by reflecting on my critical engagement with the Katuulo Organic Pineapple Cooperative in Uganda, whose members grow certified organic pineapples for sale on the international market. While there is a growing interest in critical activist research, its agenda is also constrained by the corporatist turn in universities. As such, the subjectivities, methods and theory building of activist/academics in agri-food (and other) research represents part of the resistance to normalised ways of doing and being in contemporary neo-liberal universities.
In this article we take the case study of Green Resources, a Norwegian private company engaged in... more In this article we take the case study of Green Resources, a Norwegian private company engaged in plantation forestry for the production of timber and the sale of carbon credits in two Central Forest Reserves in Uganda. Drawing on fieldwork conducted during 2012 and 2013 we examine the deployment of community development by the company within the context of what is known as the green economy. Green Resources has been chosen as a case study given its scale, and the broad range of activities it refers to as community development. Our findings explore some of the ambiguities, contestations and complexities within this deployment of community development. This case study analysis provides in-depth insights into broader development trends occurring within the context of a relatively new form of economic activity, understood as the green economy – encompassing market-based initiatives that are broadly recognized as environmentally responsible. Findings indicate a gap between the claims of community development and the lived reality amongst affected villagers. Such a gap has implications for critical scholarship in relation to deployment of community
In recognition of the opportunities associated with climate change, the finance sector have engag... more In recognition of the opportunities associated with climate change, the finance sector have engaged in market based activities via the acquisition of land for ecosystem services, such as biofuel production or forestry for carbon sequestration. Many of these investments are global in scope; with finance capital from the Global North directed into the acquisition of land in the global South. We take the case study of the self-proclaimed largest plantation forestry operator on the African continent, the Norwegian company, Green Resources and their Ugandan land acquisition, to explore, firstly, the claims-making associated with the expanding financialisation of land and natural resources and secondly, the new corporate enclosures engendered via such companies' participation in the expanding carbon economy. Our findings show that investor claims regarding the economic development and environmental sustainability at the site level do not match with the lived reality of Ugandan villagers at the investment site. Whilst carbon capture is possible, it is outweighed by a suite of social and environment ills, including forced dispossession, biodiversity loss and chemical pollution.
This paper uses a case study of smallholder teak forestry in the Pacific Islands nation of Solomo... more This paper uses a case study of smallholder teak forestry in the Pacific Islands nation of Solomon Islands to evaluate difficulties that can arise when foreign expertise fails to take sufficient account of local episte-mology and practices when implementing market based community level development. The planting of community level smallholder teak is widespread in the Solomon Islands and has the potential to address some of the environmental and livelihood damage done by years of indiscriminate logging. Attempts by successive Australian Government aid programs to better manage plantations for maximum yield and marketability have largely failed as competing livelihood priorities; differing philosophies on long term compounding returns and deferred income; and the geographical challenges of accessing markets have all conspired to prevent this high value timber from being grown to its full potential. We use the theories of indigenous epistemology to highlight the ways in which failure to properly integrate economic activity according to the culture and values of communities can mean that initiatives such as this will struggle to succeed.
This article brings to light one aspect of alternative agri-food practices by exploring the value... more This article brings to light one aspect of alternative agri-food practices by exploring the values and meanings domestic food producers associate with their actions, thereby making a small contribution to increasing understanding of the act of urban backyard food production. While Australian backyards have long been productive spaces, there has been little examination of this phenomenon in the Australian context. Limited quantitative data give some insight into the extent of domestic production, and while there is an increasing interest in certain aspects of the local food system, including community gardens and farmers markets, there is a dearth of literature that explores the contemporary act of domestic production. This work seeks to situate the act of domestic production within the broader movement calling for change within the global food system, particularly that being articulated by the food sovereignty movement. Drawing on Gibson –Graham's diverse economies framework, and through interviews with eight domestic food producers in one Australian city, this work finds that the act of growing food at home offers space for hope – where small acts can be seen as part of the broader food sovereignty movement seeking to remake our food system.
Food movement advocates articulate a diversity of approaches to address the current food crisis. ... more Food movement advocates articulate a diversity of approaches to address the current food crisis. These approaches resonate with both food security and food sovereignty discourses and range between reform and radical rights-based theories of change. This paper draws from research with urban food advocates in Australia to provide insights into the relations between tactics to change food systems and their resonance with food security and food sovereignty discourses. On the basis of this analysis, the paper concludes that tactics for social change – or the food politics enacted by urban food advocates – both converge and diverse with food security and food sovereignty discourses. These outcomes point to the diversity of approaches for identifying and evaluating pathways for rebuilding food systems.
... of applications across the food system, nanotechnological innovations appear to have greater ... more ... of applications across the food system, nanotechnological innovations appear to have greater potential to support certain aspects of 'quality'food production and distribution, such as through the use of nano-packaging for transportation of high-value foods, reduced application ...
Export of certified organic agricultural products provides a market-based development strategy to... more Export of certified organic agricultural products provides a market-based development strategy to deliver socioeconomic and ecological benefits to smallholder farmers in the global South. Yet the outcomes of participation in organic export-led initiatives are mixed. The extent to which organic export agriculture can deliver benefits to smallholders is, at least in part, tied to the capacity of organic governance to include smallholder farmers as active participants in shaping the outcomes of inclusion in export markets. This chapter contributes to understandings of local-level impacts of organic exporting by evaluating smallholder empowerment as part of two central components of organic governance: organic standard setting and group certification. Drawing from fieldwork in Uganda and Ghana, results demonstrate that organic governance arrangements that developed alongside the initial emergence of global South-North organic exporting provided limited opportunities for Southern actor empowerment; standard setting processes mostly excluded smallholder and other Southern interests, and created new forms of dependency upon exporters. However, the introduction of group certification has provided smallholders' deliberative capacity, bringing with it opportunities for democratic legitimacy as part of global organic governance. As South-North organic exporting has continued to expand, the industry has grappled with the ongoing challenge of greater smallholder inclusion, with outcomes that have continued to establish the basis for legitimate deliberative capacity. The chapter concludes by pointing to the possibilities for smallholder empowerment alongside ongoing organic industry maturation.
The African continent has experienced significant growth in the organic sector in recent years. T... more The African continent has experienced significant growth in the organic sector in recent years. This paper draws from in-depth interviews with fifty organic farmers across four selected countries–Egypt, Ghana, Kenya and Uganda–to document the socio-economic ...
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