Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
The remaining case studies illustrate the influence of the market ideology, albeit in
distinct contexts. The focus on export production in Africa and Latin America neg-
atively impacts both the cultural values and social rights of domestic producers. In
the South Pacific, the market provides a less contested outcome, albeit the producers
are largely engaged only in domestic trade.
As a whole, the case studies provide compelling evidence as to why a single solu-
tion to world hunger has been so hard to ahieve. Eah of the cases describes the po-
tential adaptive capacity of local producers, yet the underlying concern of the con-
tributing authors is that more just, flexible and productive food systems are subject
to the overwhelming influence of structural constraints and local context. Perhaps
the key conclusion to be drawn from this group of cases is that we must abandon the
beguiling notion that there
is one
solution for world hunger. This, after all, is a signi-
ficant part of the ideological power of the neoliberal market model - the claim that
one size does fit all. In addition, this model suggests that, at a global level, politicians,
policymakers, institutions and societies can be progressively disciplined for solving
the ills of the world. The insights from this volume open up three key areas requir-
ing further discussion in the remainder of this hapter. First, what happens once we
realize that there is no 'silver bullet'? What governance options do we put in its
place? Second, how do we address the fundamental ideological and cultural problem
in how we understand food? Finally, can we bridge the gap between production and
profit on one hand, and healthy consumption and abject hunger on the other? How
do we even begin a dialogue on what that bridging might look like?
Formulating responses 1: options and governance
A wide range of well-informed recommendations for ahieving food security already
exist - including those from joint, cross-disciplinary projects suh as the IAASTD
(International assessment of agricultural knowledge, science and tehnology for de-
velopment) (McIntyre,
et al
., 2009) and the UK Food Security Review (Godfray,
et
al
., 2010) to more narrowly focused sholarly assessments, to journalistic positions,
to organizational planning. Many of these inform the solutions included in Jules
Prety's hapter. In
Table 14.1
,
we further catalogue a selected set of recent recom-
mendations for reconfiguring the global food system. We have categorized these on
the basis of their capacity to initiate or contribute to hanging business-as-usual in
the global food system. In making this distinction, we are not arguing that the re-
commendations listed in the right-hand column are to be avoided or abandoned -
