Schedule 9th International Degrowth Conference

Developing countries continue to face challenges of food insecurity, particularly in rural areas, where farming is the major occupation. The idea of Degrowth is often contested in the context of developing countries because of the fear that Degrowth may undermine the economic emancipation of poorer countries. Neo-classical economic development strategies mainly focus on growth and thus on improving capitalistic marketing and production activities. The assumption is that securing the formal production sector of the economy will automatically lead to strengthening the reproduction sector of the economy and its activities, such as ensuring food security. Neo-classical development strategies thus overlook the reproductive sector of the economy, probably largely because they ignores the role of gender and intersectionality in the economy (both reproductive and productive).
This paper strengthens
the view that Degrowth can be a relevant concept for securing food security
among other reproduction goals of households in developing countries. In developing
countries, women are often responsible for reproduction goals, while men
monopolize the production and capitalistic economy and related assets. Our
central arguments are that 1) within the household, the economic agents
responsible for achieving production and reproductive goals are different; and
that 2) the goal of achieving food security is not a productive goal but a
reproductive goal that cannot be met only by enhancing the production and
market economy.
The case study of an
agroecology women’s group in Nigeria illustrates how reproduction and
production are associated with different agents: men and women, who appear to
live in parallel worlds. While the men orient towards the formal economy based
on chrematistic economic exchange within the dominant capitalist system,
reproduction goals (care, education to some extent and food) are left to women,
albeit with no assets relevant to formal economy (land rights, control over
cash, relevant social capital). Our analysis demonstrated how women smallholders
established an alternative non-monetary food system including elements of
circular economy (barter system, food exchange, and self-provisioning) to
ensure that they can fulfill their reproductive goals of food security outside
the capitalist market-based food system. Such intersectionality of
(re)production goals based on gender suggests the need for a more feminist and
anti-capitalistic approach to food security challenges. Such an approach might
present a purposeful strategy to stabilize economies thereby realizing both
food security and ecological benefits simultaneously.

Info

Day: 2023-08-30
Start time: 17:00
Duration: 00:15
Room: ZV-8-2
Type: Paper Presentation
Theme: Feminist, decolonial, anti-racist and anti-ableist ecologies

Links:

• iCalendar