Food Sovereignty Research Articles

MALAMA: Cultivating Food Sovereignty through Backyard Aquaponics with Native Hawaiian Families.

Native Hawaiians were a healthy and robust population who developed a sophisticated food system that was dismantled by colonization. Currently, Native Hawaiians face pervasive health disparities due to the limited access to healthy foods and lifestyles. This study pilot tested a family-based community-driven intervention called MALAMA, which teaches families to build and use a backyard aquaponics system to grow their own food. A total of 21 participants from 10 families completed a three-month curriculum that included a series of hands-on workshops. Participant attendance was recorded and participants completed a behavioral health questionnaire as well as provided clinical indicators at three time points. They also attended a focus group at the end of the curriculum. There was a high level of engagement and no participant attrition. Fruit consumption among all participants significantly increased and there were favorable trends in blood pressure and fish and vegetable consumption. No significant differences were found in the other clinical indicators. Participants found MALAMA to be highly culturally acceptable and identified multiple benefits. Community-driven solutions, such as MALAMA, may be a promising approach to addressing pervasive health disparities and promoting health equity in minority and Indigenous communities.

Can local food become an inclusive practice in urban areas? A community provisioning systems approach

In the context of crises such as the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, local food systems have emerged as a potential solution to the challenges of food sovereignty and sustainability. However, the adoption of local food as a widespread practice remains limited. The aim of this research is to identify the drivers that could lead to the widespread adoption of local food systems as an inclusive practice in urban areas. We adopt a systemic approach to analyze the dynamics of supply systems and communities in a city within the Paris region, combining geographic, ethnographic, and documentary data. Our findings reveal a tentative practice and a gap between the supply and the population’s usage patterns. Our research highlights how food behaviors are embedded within interacting systems. It calls on public authorities to make local food systems a significant focus for large-scale distribution and urges the economic sphere to rethink its business models and value chains.

“Akili zetu ziwe moja / Let our minds be one”: Emergent strategy for adapting to seafood insecurity in coastal Kenyan fishing communities

Small-scale fisheries provide food sovereignty and capital for millions globally. However, coastal Kenyan communities who harvest reef fishery resources are often still food insecure, especially due to the detrimental effects of climate change and overfishing in their communities. This study aims to understand the environmental perceptions and priorities of fishing families in Kilifi County, Kenya, and how these relate to both food security and sustainable development policy. We rely on qualitative methods including interviews with household caregivers from 42 fishing families to provide insights not only on fishery sustainability but also on the additional aspects of reproductive labor related to fish food security, including the food securing aspects of availability, accessibility, utilization, and stability. Our findings highlight the complex challenges that environmental change places on families in this situation: lack of fish availability, seasonal food inaccessibility, shifting baselines, and experiences of loss in the food system are markedly a prevalent result. Despite these struggles, we see emergent strategies to address food needs unfold in a variety of resilient and opportunistic ways, including adaptation, trust, and multimodal networks of support. Further policy support must be given to communities to practice food sovereignty in their own contexts, especially as climate changes continue and these strategies become salient adaptive practices elsewhere.

Food Taboos and Cultural Resilience: A Study on the Role of Rice Prohibition in Maintaining Food Security and Ecological Sustainability

: This research explores the role of food taboos in Kampung Adat Cireundeu, focusing on the community’s prohibition against rice consumption and its significance in maintaining cultural identity and food security. Using a qualitative descriptive approach, data were collected through in-depth interviews with key informants and direct observations of the community’s food practices. Historical and secondary data were also reviewed. The study found that the food taboos in Cireundeu are deeply connected to the community's historical resistance to colonisation and their religious beliefs in Sunda Wiwitan. These taboos serve as a cultural safeguard and a strategy for ensuring food resilience by relying on cassava as a staple crop. The findings suggest that indigenous knowledge systems and food taboos can play a critical role in promoting sustainable food security and cultural preservation. This has implications for policy development in areas of food sovereignty and ecological sustainability. This research offers a novel perspective on the intersection of historical, cultural, and ecological factors in shaping food practices, contributing to the broader understanding of how food taboos function within indigenous communities to maintain resilience against modern challenges.

Governance of family food security and sustainable planning. The case of the municipality of Santiago de Cuba

Governance is a process that enables communication and cooperation between the government, other public institutions, social organizations, and families. In Cuba, the recent approval in 2020 of the Food Sovereignty and Nutrition Education Plan implies strengthening governance as a catalyst for family food security (SAF). However, incorporating sustainable planning to promote food security from dimensions that describe eating practices in Cuban homes still needs to be improved. This research aims to assess the links between governance and sustainable planning, to strengthen the dimensions of access, use, social capital, and cultural food capital, among others (SAF) in the Santiago de Cuba municipality. For this, the interview and survey methods are used. The first, to 20 families in a situation of social food vulnerability, and the second, to a sample of 300 households whose coexistence is not marked exclusively by the exposure mentioned earlier. The results point to poor communication among the social actors, generating food-destructuring practices. It is also visible the scarce insertion of these dimensions in planning to achieve greater family food sustainability. It is concluded that to achieve SAF, it is necessary to strengthen the interconnection of governance and sustainable planning from a relational perspective of the food field.

Scale up of the learning circles: a participatory action approach to support local food systems in four diverse First Nations school communities within Canada

BackgroundAddressing Indigenous food security and food sovereignty calls for community-driven strategies to improve access to and availability of traditional and local food. Participatory approaches that integrate Indigenous leadership have supported successful program implementation. Learning Circles: Local Healthy Food to School is a participatory program that convenes a range of stakeholders including food producers, educators and Knowledge Keepers to plan, implement and monitor local food system action. Pilot work (2014–2015) in Haida Gwaii, British Columbia (BC), showed promising results of the Learning Circles (LC) approach in enhancing local and traditional food access, knowledge and skills among youth and adolescents. The objective of the current evaluation was therefore to examine the process of scaling-up the LC vertically within the Haida Nation; and horizontally across three diverse First Nations contexts: Gitxsan Nation, Hazelton /Upper Skeena, BC; Ministikwan Lake Cree Nation, Saskatchewan; and Black River First Nation, Manitoba between 2016 and 2019.MethodsAn implementation science framework, Foster-Fishman and Watson’s (2012) ABLe Change Framework, was used to understand the LC as a participatory approach to facilitate community capacity building to strengthen local food systems. Interviews (n = 52), meeting summaries (n = 44) and tracking sheets (n = 39) were thematically analyzed.ResultsThe LC facilitated a collaborative process to: (1) build on strengths and explore ways to increase readiness and capacity to reclaim traditional and local food systems; (2) strengthen connections to land, traditional knowledge and ways of life; (3) foster community-level action and multi-sector partnerships; (4) drive actions towards decolonization through revitalization of traditional foods; (5) improve availability of and appreciation for local healthy and traditional foods in school communities; and (6) promote holistic wellness through steps towards food sovereignty and food security. Scale-up within Haida Gwaii supported a growing, robust local and traditional food system and enhanced Haida leadership. The approach worked well in other First Nations contexts, though baseline capacity and the presence of champions were enabling factors.ConclusionsFindings highlight LC as a participatory approach to build capacity and support iterative planning-to-action in community food systems. Identified strengths and challenges support opportunities to expand, adopt and modify the LC approach in other Indigenous communities with diverse food systems.

Food security and disability in South Africa: an analysis of General Household Survey data

Purpose We investigated the relationship between disability and food security in South Africa using data from the General Household Survey (GHS). Materials and Methods Regression models were utilised with GHS data (2014–2018) to gauge the likelihood of food insecurity (the dependent variable) among individuals with disabilities. Socioeconomic and demographic traits of the 2018 GHS sample were analysed. All estimates were weighted and represented nationally at the individual level. Results In this study population (32 187) of food insecure people, 9.64% are disabled. Food insecurity impacts more Black people with disabilities (91%) versus those without disabilities (90%), and disabled women (65%) versus nondisabled women (58%). Most reside in KwaZulu-Natal. Those with disability grants lower food insecurity odds, while child support grant recipients face higher odds. Household size and education are significant predictors, while marital status and gender are not. Conclusion This study data justifies the need for disability-inclusive food security programmes in South Africa, especially amid crises like COVID-19. Significantly, there is a nil data finding about people with eating/swallowing disabilities whose needs intersect with food security. This emphasises the need for inclusive data collection that operates within a food sovereignty framework to increase the visibility of people with disabilities.

Land-based resistance: Enacting Indigenous self-determination and kai sovereignty

This article outlines the role of land relations in the advancement of food sovereignty in the settler colonial context of Aotearoa New Zealand by exploring how land-based anti-colonial resistance movements, including the recent #ProtectIhumātao campaign, can inform food system transformation. First, this article draws on theories of Indigenous food sovereignty, land sovereignty, and critical property theory to argue that in settler colonial contexts, food sovereignty movements must take a critical approach to questions of the state and sovereignty, property relations, and Indigenous struggles for territorial authority and self-determination. Drawing on land-based resistance movements which have included food production as a method of reclamation, this article further proposes a need to understand food sovereignty in the Aotearoa context as firmly grounded in Māori land sovereignty and territorial authority. Finally, this article explores how the struggle to protect Ihumātao ruptured the seemingly settled nature of property relations and state sovereignty, opening space for the articulation of new modes of land governance and new constitutional arrangements more conducive to Māori aspirations for land management and stewardship—including food sovereignty.

A community-engaged tool for evaluating food sovereignty in Haiti and beyond

ABSTRACT Researchers and community organizations are increasingly operationalizing food sovereignty, and argue that participatory, community-engaged food sovereignty metrics can enhance insights about local contexts, and opportunities for food sovereignty. In Haiti, one of the most food-insecure countries in the world, peasant and civil society organizations have been calling for food sovereignty for over a decade, and the state recently published a food sovereignty policy document, marking an important paradigm shift. In this paper, we share a case study of a food sovereignty tool that was designed through a participatory, community-based process in Northern Haiti, offering a blueprint and lessons learned that we hope will be useful to others working to operationalize food sovereignty.

Sovereignty of and through food:

“Food sovereignty,” a term conceived by peasant agriculturalists in South America, has become ubiquitous worldwide in academic and activist circles advocating for greater local control over local food. Its use has been adopted by various actors in North America, most notably by agriculturalists that tend to be small-scale, family-run, or permaculture focussed. While Indigenous food sovereignty has emerged as an adaptation of this concept, ecological, economic, social, and political opportunities and constraints in different locations across Turtle Island make its widespread application challenging, especially in contexts where communities do not want, or cannot (for a variety of reasons) eat exclusively from the land. In addition, “food sovereignty” can become a chimera in contexts where the “Crown” has absolute and final “sovereignty” over the land, which they have demonstrated through multiple enforcements across Turtle Island. Using a decolonial feminist lens within a political ecology community of practice, this paper describes and critiques current and historic framings of northern Ontario boreal forests as variously and simultaneously scarce and abundant. It also analyzes the ways that these framings have been discursively and materially constructed through colonial social, ecological, economic, and political impositions. It asks whether the concept of food sovereignty adequately challenges these constructions. Ultimately, this paper suggests that thinking about Indigenous food sovereignty as sovereignty of and through food may better describe the process, importance, and potential inherent in traditional and alternative Indigenous food harvesting and distribution practices in First Nations communities in northern Ontario, and indeed, beyond.

Vulnerabilities of the neoliberal global food system: The Russia–Ukraine War and COVID‐19

AbstractThe coronavirus 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic and the Russia–Ukraine war have demonstrated that the neoliberal system is unstable during global crises. In times of crisis, exporter countries adopt protectionist policies in the form of export restrictions to safeguard their local food supply and curb inflation. Consequently, low‐income countries might find themselves unable to access essential food products. In this regard, the aftermath of the COVID‐19 pandemic and the Russia–Ukraine war has gradually increased export restrictions, causing severe food supply disruptions. In particular, import‐dependent countries cannot access essential food products and face famine. To this point, this study explores the vulnerabilities of neoliberalism when exporter countries turn to protectionism. Moreover, it asks whether food sovereignty and self‐sufficiency could act as a safeguard for import‐dependent states against such vulnerabilities. In doing so, the study aims to contribute to the literature by linking protectionism with export restrictions, diverging from the more common association of protectionism with solely import restrictions.

Agroecology and food sovereignty: Struggles for justice and healthy food in urban peripheral territories

RESUMO Neste trabalho, destacam-se aprendizados com pesquisa realizada pelo Núcleo Ecologias e Encontros de Saberes para a Promoção Emancipatória da Saúde (Neepes) em parceria com o Centro de Integração na Serra da Misericórdia (CEM) e o Movimento dos Sem Teto da Bahia (MSTB), que atuam em territórios periféricos no Rio de Janeiro e em Salvador. A pesquisa buscou apoiar e sistematizar conhecimentos e práticas emancipatórias de promoção da saúde protagonizados por essas experiências, tendo por base quatro eixos temáticos transversais: alimentação, cuidado, moradia e proteção ambiental, além de comunicação. No artigo, enfocaram-se as reflexões coletivas em relação ao primeiro eixo temático, envolvendo estratégias para promover agroecologia e soberania alimentar, com experiências de produção, circulação e acesso a alimentos saudáveis. Com base nessas reflexões, visou-se contribuir com discussões sobre Territórios Sustentáveis e Saudáveis (TSS), especialmente pelos aprendizados possibilitados com a sistematização das experiências territoriais com base na noção de Promoção Emancipatória da Saúde, que aponta para importantes aportes nas dimensões de justiça ambiental e cognitiva. Com a sistematização dessas experiências, destaca-se sua capacidade de resistir, a partir de um movimento de reexistência de saberes tradicionais e comunitários em periferias urbanas, que apontam caminhos possíveis para a construção de TSS em periferias urbanas.

Food Availability and Distribution in Farmer Households; The Influence of Socio-Economic Aspects

The availability and distribution of food for a family is a manifestation of the power relations within a household. The availability and distribution of food for a family is a reflection of power relations within a household. On a wider spectrum, this phenomenon represents relations between countries in the context of food sovereignty. This study aims to look at the socio-economic aspects that influence the availability and distribution of food in the pursuit of food security for farming households. This research was conducted in March - April 2023 in Gowa Regency using a mixed method with a sequential explanatory technique, where this technique begins with quantitative data then, followed by qualitative data. This study involved 53 women as informants selected by simple random sampling. The social aspects used are education, main income earner, and women's position in the household. Meanwhile, to discuss economic aspects, land area and production of agricultural products (rice) are used. The results of this study explain that women who are the backbone of the household economy and are highly educated are seen to be more equitable in food distribution, while women who do not contribute to household income and are positioned as daughters-in-law or other household members are seen to have difficulty distributing food fairly and proportionally. In general, farmer households are not yet at the food security level, which is indicated by the fact that food consumption is dominated by carbohydrates. While the other nutrients, such as protein and fat, needed by the body have not been taken care of.

The impact of population growth on housing food security and transportation

Background: Rapid population growth and its impact on the environment is a major problem facing the world today, in addition to other issues that also require serious handling and attention. Rapid population growth, especially in cities and urban areas, puts pressure on the fulfillment of population needs that must be provided to ensure the survival of the population. Population growth has an impact on the increasing needs of the population for affordable housing, food needs, transportation. Method: This research uses a qualitative approach based on case studies and literature reviews. This approach involves a critical and in-depth evaluation of previous research, focusing on data collected from various sources related to the impact of population growth on affordable housing, food needs, and sustainable transportation. Findings: The rate of population growth has an impact on environmental sustainability, as a result of the exploitation of natural resources to fulfill various needs, including food needs. Population growth has a linear effect on the demand for food, such as rice and tubers, through the provision of agricultural land. This increase in consumption value occurs in an increasingly limited stock of natural resources, therefore a food fulfillment strategy is needed to achieve national food security and sovereignty, to meet the needs of the population and for food stocks to anticipate undesirable things, such as natural disasters and crop failures. Some of the efforts that can be made are food diversification, intensification, and extensification of agriculture accompanied by the active role of the government in providing infrastructure and supporting policies. Population growth also affects the level of population mobility. Each individual carries out daily activities such as school, work and other activities. This population mobility greatly affects the use of transportation modes to reach certain destinations. The mode of transportation consists of private vehicles and public vehicles. Conclusion: If the use of private vehicles is more than public vehicles, there is the potential for traffic congestion. In addition, the more vehicles used, the greater the carbon emissions produced so that it can cause greenhouse gas effects. One of the efforts that can be made is to implement sustainable transportation management through Transit Oriented Development (TOD) in the provision of transportation modes. TOD is expected to make private vehicle users switch to using public transportation. Novelty/Originality of this study: This research proposes a holistic approach to address the impacts of urban population growth, combining strategies for food diversification, transit-based development, and affordable housing. This framework is expected to be a practical innovation for sustainable urban development in countries with rapid population growth.

TINJAUAN HUKUM PRINSIP SAFEGUARD DALAM PROTEKSI PRODUK PERTANIAN INDONESIA

This journal discusses the principles of safeguards in protecting Indonesian agricultural products from surges in imports of agricultural products when it is expected to cause serious harm to the domestic industry in terms of International Trade Law and further elaboration in Indonesian National Law. This study uses a normative legal approach, namely using a literature study in the form of a review of the literature. The application of safeguards to Indonesian agricultural products can be done by setting the amount of import duty rates or setting import quota restrictions and setting time limits. The Indonesian government always seeks to harmonize domestic laws and regulations with international regulations for the protection of domestic farmers and industries in the context of food sovereignty, facilitating trade and increasing exports and preventing trade disputes in international forums.

QUALITY OF BRAZILIAN SPINACH SEEDLINGS (Alternanthera sessilis (L.) R.Rr. ex DC.) IN REGIONAL SUMMAÚMA SUBSTRATE

The use of unconventional food plants is an alternative for diversification and promotion of food sovereignty. The objective of this work was to evaluate the quality of spinach seedlings from the Amazon produced in samaúma substrate as conditioner. The experiment was carried out in a greenhouse in the experimental garden of the Federal University of Acre, from November to December 2022. The experimental design was completely randomized, with three treatments and 30 repetitions, totaling 90 experimental units. The treatments were 3 substrates, as follows: T1 - Commercial substrate; T2 -commercial substrate + samaúma substrate (1:1) and T3 – samaúma substrate. At 30 days of cultivation, the following variables were evaluated: leaf length, leaf width, seedling height, stem diameter, total number of shoots, total number of leaves, number of leaves per shoot, root length, fresh mass of the part aerial part, fresh mass of roots, dry mass of aerial part, dry mass of roots, total fresh mass, total dry mass and the Dickson quality index was calculated. The combination of the commercial substrate with the samaúma substrate (1:1) is an alternative for the production of spinach seedlings from the Amazon.

Interpretation of the imaginary of farmers about the products obtained through urban agriculture

The present investigation was carried out with the objective of identifying the factors that affect the adoption of urban agriculture practices in the municipality of Florencia, Caquetá. To achieve this objective, an exploratory study was carried out that involved the collection and analysis of data through surveys and interviews with Mr. José. The result of this research was analyzed in detail on the interpretation of the farmers' imaginary about the products obtained through urban agriculture, as well as recommendations to promote their adoption and improve their impact on the local population. So that is why urban agriculture is a useful tool to promote the sustainable development of cities. This is because it offers a viable solution to satisfy the growing demand for food and self-consumption in the urban area, discovering food sovereignty in addition to creating important social, economic and environmental benefits

Até onde vamos?

This article presents some initial contributions on (re) thinking the major challenges facing Latin American society, reconstructing its historical features and its contemporary challenges. It also presents possible ways of reconstructing the present and the possibility of reconverting to ways of life, cultures and values that have their roots in ancestral peoples. It looks to Good Living, Food Sovereignty and agroecology, the principles of which are in line with the teachings announced by Pope Francis in his encyclicals Fratelli Tutti and Laudatto Si, for hope of a better world. This world will only be possible if it is based on Fraternity and Social Friendship and on deep respect for our Common Home and those who live in it.

"I Haven't Had Moose Meat in a Long Time": Exploring Urban Indigenous Perspectives on Traditional Foods in Saskatchewan.

This qualitative study investigates the perspectives of urban Indigenous individuals in Saskatchewan, Canada, regarding their consumption of traditional foods. Through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 14 participants across Saskatoon, Regina, and Prince Albert, the research aimed to uncover the benefits, risks, and barriers associated with acquiring and consuming traditional foods. Participants emphasized the nutritional advantages of traditional foods, such as higher nutrient density and absence of industrial additives, which they linked to improved health outcomes and alignment with Indigenous biology. The study also highlighted the vital role of traditional foods in maintaining cultural identity and fostering community connections through practices of food sharing and intergenerational knowledge transfer. However, significant challenges were identified, including economic and physical barriers to access, environmental degradation, and regulatory issues that restrict the availability of traditional foods in urban settings. The findings suggest a complex landscape where cultural practices are both preserved and challenged within the urban environment. This study contributes to the broader understanding of how Indigenous populations navigate the preservation of their culinary heritage in the face of modern economic and environmental pressures, providing insights for policy and community-based interventions aimed at supporting Indigenous food sovereignty.

Understanding the diversity of Community Supported Agriculture: a transdisciplinary framework with empirical evidence from Germany

IntroductionCommunity Supported Agriculture (CSA) is an emerging model within alternative food networks (AFNs). It shapes close relationships between food producers and consumers, thereby contributing to food sovereignty and agri-food system transformations. Despite rapid growth from about 10 to over 500 CSAs in just over a decade, the model in Germany still remains niche. We argue that further and faster scaling up requires better understanding of its diversity, yet a comprehensive conceptualization of CSA types is lacking, with insufficient differentiation in research and practice.MethodsThis study employs a transdisciplinary mixed-methods approach (literature, qualitative, and quantitative data) in cooperation with the German CSA Network. By integrating organizational perspectives, we found that CSAs are highly complex and diverse organizations. Therefore, we firstly aimed at identifying characteristics that we summarized in a CSA framework. In a second stage, we used this framework as guiding structure for co-developing a survey with the Network covering 70 participating CSAs.ResultsAs the defining characteristic within the CSA framework, community financing (domain A) clarifies the uniqueness of the CSA model, thus enables delimitation from other AFN forms. Then differentiation characteristics (domain B) encompass the diversity of CSA configurations. CSA governance (domain B1), regarding the predominant characteristic of organizational governance, distinguish between Producer-led, Consumer-led, and Integrated (all-in-one) CSA types. Varying characteristics (domain B2) specify CSA configurations and enable additional distinction between CSAs. Based on the developed CSA framework, the survey results verify the applicability of governance types in particular, while confirming a high level of diversity of differentiating characteristics in general.DiscussionThis study can be used to reveal existing generalizations about CSAs, providing a starting point for more nuanced and critical views in research and practice. When seen against the background of AFN and food sovereignty discourses in particular, CSA is an alternative production-distribution model, but not every CSA is governed or structured in alternative ways. CSAs can simultaneously contain both more conventional, traditional elements, as well as more alternative elements. Moreover, the framework provides easy-to-access differentiation criteria for matching members with their most suitable CSAs and vice versa. Overall, this study illustrates that CSA cannot be considered as homogeneous AFN type but be rather marked as a diverse field of its own.