posted by Bertie
Volume 25:3 of LEISA Magazine is out.
Theme of this issue: Women and food sovereignty.
Women and food are inseparably linked. We cannot write about food sovereignty without addressing women’s role in food production. In many situations women take the main responsibility for food production, processing, storage and cooking. Often they play a key role in its marketing as well. But modernisation of agriculture has taken several crucial food-related responsibilities out of their hands. For instance, women are often experts in seed selection – knowing best which seed produces a crop that does not only yield well but also has the best taste, stores better or produces good fodder. With the increasing commercialisation of seed, women lose control over food production. Despite facts demonstrating the important contribution of women to agricultural production, the perception persists that what women do is marginal; real agriculture is about modern technologies, economies of scale, specialisation and mechanisation. So where do women fit into this type of agriculture? What useful knowledge will be lost when the so-called backward “traditional” agriculture has disappeared? Who will control the food, and the resources needed to produce it? In this light, it is no surprise that women are deeply involved in the food sovereignty movement.
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