Abstract
Despite the widespread disruptions of lives and livelihoods due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it could also be seen as a gamechanger. The post-pandemic recovery should address fundamental questions concerning our food systems. Is it possible to reset existing ecologically unsustainable production systems towards healthier and more connected systems of conscious consumers and ecologically oriented farmers? Based on three illustrative cases from different parts of India, we show how managing transitions towards sustainability require institutional innovations and new intermediaries that build agency, change relations, and transform structures in food systems. Lessons from three diverse geographies and commodities in India are presented: urban farming initiatives in Mumbai, conscious consumer initiatives in semi-urban Gujarat for pesticide-free mangoes, and resource-poor arid regions of Andhra Pradesh. Through these examples, we show that, beyond the technological solutions, institutional innovations such as urban community-supported farming models, Participatory Guarantee Schemes, and Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) can enable sustainable transitions. Sustainable lifestyles in a post COVID-19 world, as the cases show, require collective experimentation with producers that go beyond changed consumer behaviour to transform structures in food systems.
Highlights
In the following illustrative case studies across different geographies in India, we focus on operational mechanisms by identifying the elements, innovations, and pathways that can enable ecologically responsible socio-technical systems
Participatory research allows for greater reflexivity and sensitivity on the part of the researcher [32], enabling knowledge for action, to be achieved through partnerships between traditionally trained researchers and lay people in a community [33]
The data from all these sources were integrated and qualitatively analysed using the methods of thematic analysis [38] to generate an understanding of the elements, institutions, and pathways generated towards sustainable transition practices
Summary
The past few decades have been marked by overwhelming evidence of anthropogenic activities being a central driver of massive changes in the ecosystem. Amongst the various anthropogenic activities, large-scale, mechanised agriculture is a major contributor to the possible ecosystem collapse [3,4] These impacts are not one-sided, as increasingly erratic weather due to climate change exponentially increases the risk associated with farming and food distribution systems. The dominant values, relationships, and institutions involved in organising society can undergo a significant transformation in response to game-changing events, creating spaces for transformative social innovations [14]. These innovations are marked by context-specific and bottom-up initiatives, the characterisation of which offers scholars, policymakers, and practitioners ways to enable a supportive ecosystem [15]
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