Abstract
Food sovereignty has been defined as “the right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their own food and agriculture systems.” Human health is an implied component of this definition through the principle of healthy food. In fact, improved human health is commonly cited as a benefit of transforming food production away from the dominant practices of industrial agriculture. Yet, does the use of “ecologically sound and sustainable methods” of food production necessarily translate into better human health outcomes? Does greater choice in defining an agricultural or food system create gains in health and well-being? We elucidate the conceptual linkages between food sovereignty and human health, critically examine the empirical evidence supporting or refuting these linkages, and identify research gaps and key priorities for the food sovereignty-human health research agenda. Five domains of food sovereignty are discussed including: (1) use of agroecological management practices for food production, (2) the localization of food production and consumption, (3) promotion of social justice and equity, (4) valuation of traditional knowledge, and (5) the transformation of economic and political institutions and structures to support self-determination. We find that although there are many plausible linkages between food sovereignty and human health, the empirical evidence in support of the hypothesis that increasing food sovereignty yields improvements to human health is weak. We propose that a concerted effort to generate new empirical evidence on the health implications of these domains of food sovereignty is urgently needed, and suggest areas of research that may be crucial for addressing the gaps in the evidence base.
Highlights
The concept of “food sovereignty” was first defined by the international peasant movement, La Via Campesina, in 1996 as “the right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their own food and agriculture systems” [1]
To more clearly define domains of food sovereignty that may be empirically measured and used to identify linkages between food sovereignty and human health, we propose five core domains of food sovereignty based on current definitions of the concept: [1] use of agroecological management practices for food production, [2] the localizing of food production and consumption, [3] promotion of social justice and equity, [4] valuation of traditional knowledge, and [5] transforming economic and political institutions and structures to support self-determination (Table 1)
Rather, using the five domains of food sovereignty identified above and building from previous frameworks, we examine plausible pathways linking each domain to human health, assess the nature and strength of evidence supporting these pathways, and explore hypotheses for how greater food sovereignty may lead to improvements in human health
Summary
The concept of “food sovereignty” was first defined by the international peasant movement, La Via Campesina, in 1996 as “the right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their own food and agriculture systems” [1]. There are significant challenges of aligning food sovereignty related research with funding cycles and standard metrics of evaluation in health research (e.g., biomarkers) that commonly emphasize discrete solutions to clearly demarcated illnesses rather than a broader focus on systems dynamics that impact communities and populations [15] Given this limited evidence, we propose that a concerted effort to generate new empirical evidence on the health implications of these domains of food sovereignty is urgently needed. Promoting local and regional cottage-based industries to process agricultural products could achieve multiple wins for low-income producers by enhancing income-earning opportunities, spurring multiplier effects in local rural economies, prolonging seasonal availability of nutrientrich, perishable foods, and reducing food waste All of these could plausibly benefit health through direct and indirect pathways.
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