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Food Insecurity: The prospects for Food Sovereignty in contemporary East Africa. This thesis exam... more Food Insecurity: The prospects for Food Sovereignty in contemporary East Africa. This thesis examines the enduring problem of food insecurity in Africa, with a particular focus on Ethiopia and Kenya. It considers food insecurity both in acute terms-the occurrence of famine and chronic terms-famine vulnerability. More specifically it provides a new interpretation of the causes of food insecurity in East Africa, with respect to some of the causal factors and viable solutions. It does so by locating the occurrence of famine, and countries vulnerability to it, in the context of the global food system. The global food system is, as yet, an under-examined factor in contemporary famine analysis, particularly in East Africa and this thesis aims to explore it more comprehensively than hitherto. This thesis also makes a substantive contribution to understanding the concept of Food Sovereignty in an African context. Food Sovereignty deserves to be a more significant part of contemporary narratives that at present dominate the political and social dilemmas about food insecurity. However there are serious obstacles such as political relationships, land tenure and the industrial system of agriculture that hinder the development of Food Sovereignty as a viable option. Natural disasters, demographic pressures and ill conceived economic policies are an ongoing part of the story but in essence food insecurity is ultimately political. This thesis concludes that Food Sovereignty should be explored as a political solution to a political problem. 1 Food insecurity in terms of chronic hunger in South Asia, for example, is attributed to chronic poverty but the region is considered to be largely famine free due to political safeguards. There are countries in Africa, however, where political marginalisation, conflict and ill conceived agricultural policies have resulted in periods of acute hunger i.e. famine. 20 Ethiopia, for example, is the largest recipient of the World Banks' global food crises response programme (GFRP). Last year 12 million Ethiopians out of a population just under 90 million are estimated to have received food aid (Oakland Institute 2010). 21 Arguably the 'collective' nature of Food Sovereignty makes it more problematic, to define and maintain, than an 'individual' right' and this can be conceived of as a very real obstacle. See Chapter 7. 22 www.viacampesina.org 23 See Chapter 3 24 See Appendix 3 for a summary of the seven key principles of Food Sovereignty. political construct which demands a transition from 'what is' to 'what ought to be' in the global food system. In considering Food Sovereignty as a political project, and its relevance to East Africa, this thesis explores the sort of politics, and kinds of agencies and alliances that are required to bring about the necessary changes to achieve this transition. Key Questions and Methods. Two key questions are central to this thesis. First, in what ways does the global food system, as it is currently constituted, increase food insecurity in parts of Africa? Second, in what ways might reorganising aspects of the global food system reduce vulnerability to famine in East Africa, with Food Sovereignty as a guiding principle? These questions generate a number of lines of enquiry and possible arguments, three of which will preoccupy this thesis: A1. The failure to think about vulnerability to famine in Africa as a consequence of the GFS handicaps attempts to reduce that vulnerability. A2. Food Sovereignty is an appropriate solution to famine and vulnerability to famine where famine is caused by systemic features of the GFS. A3. There are clear obstacles to the adaptation and development of Food Sovereignty in an East African context taking account of differences in economic structure, political culture, land tenure and institutions of government. In order to answer the central questions asked in this thesis, two things need to be understood and acknowledged in the approach it adopts. First, contemporary famines in East Africa are too complex to be explained by a single factor. Their occurrence in Sudan, Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia, for example, do not share one single root cause. It will be shown that the underlying causes are essentially political rather than simply market failures or environmental factors. Second, there is a clear need to establish a separation between trigger factors, such as drought, over-grazing or overpopulation ,

Food Insecurity: The prospects for Food Sovereignty in contemporary East Africa. This thesis exam... more Food Insecurity: The prospects for Food Sovereignty in contemporary East Africa. This thesis examines the enduring problem of food insecurity in Africa, with a particular focus on Ethiopia and Kenya. It considers food insecurity both in acute terms-the occurrence of famine and chronic terms-famine vulnerability. More specifically it provides a new interpretation of the causes of food insecurity in East Africa, with respect to some of the causal factors and viable solutions. It does so by locating the occurrence of famine, and countries vulnerability to it, in the context of the global food system. The global food system is, as yet, an under-examined factor in contemporary famine analysis, particularly in East Africa and this thesis aims to explore it more comprehensively than hitherto. This thesis also makes a substantive contribution to understanding the concept of Food Sovereignty in an African context. Food Sovereignty deserves to be a more significant part of contemporary narratives that at present dominate the political and social dilemmas about food insecurity. However there are serious obstacles such as political relationships, land tenure and the industrial system of agriculture that hinder the development of Food Sovereignty as a viable option. Natural disasters, demographic pressures and ill conceived economic policies are an ongoing part of the story but in essence food insecurity is ultimately political. This thesis concludes that Food Sovereignty should be explored as a political solution to a political problem. 1 Food insecurity in terms of chronic hunger in South Asia, for example, is attributed to chronic poverty but the region is considered to be largely famine free due to political safeguards. There are countries in Africa, however, where political marginalisation, conflict and ill conceived agricultural policies have resulted in periods of acute hunger i.e. famine. 20 Ethiopia, for example, is the largest recipient of the World Banks' global food crises response programme (GFRP). Last year 12 million Ethiopians out of a population just under 90 million are estimated to have received food aid (Oakland Institute 2010). 21 Arguably the 'collective' nature of Food Sovereignty makes it more problematic, to define and maintain, than an 'individual' right' and this can be conceived of as a very real obstacle. See Chapter 7. 22 www.viacampesina.org 23 See Chapter 3 24 See Appendix 3 for a summary of the seven key principles of Food Sovereignty. political construct which demands a transition from 'what is' to 'what ought to be' in the global food system. In considering Food Sovereignty as a political project, and its relevance to East Africa, this thesis explores the sort of politics, and kinds of agencies and alliances that are required to bring about the necessary changes to achieve this transition. Key Questions and Methods. Two key questions are central to this thesis. First, in what ways does the global food system, as it is currently constituted, increase food insecurity in parts of Africa? Second, in what ways might reorganising aspects of the global food system reduce vulnerability to famine in East Africa, with Food Sovereignty as a guiding principle? These questions generate a number of lines of enquiry and possible arguments, three of which will preoccupy this thesis: A1. The failure to think about vulnerability to famine in Africa as a consequence of the GFS handicaps attempts to reduce that vulnerability. A2. Food Sovereignty is an appropriate solution to famine and vulnerability to famine where famine is caused by systemic features of the GFS. A3. There are clear obstacles to the adaptation and development of Food Sovereignty in an East African context taking account of differences in economic structure, political culture, land tenure and institutions of government. In order to answer the central questions asked in this thesis, two things need to be understood and acknowledged in the approach it adopts. First, contemporary famines in East Africa are too complex to be explained by a single factor. Their occurrence in Sudan, Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia, for example, do not share one single root cause. It will be shown that the underlying causes are essentially political rather than simply market failures or environmental factors. Second, there is a clear need to establish a separation between trigger factors, such as drought, over-grazing or overpopulation ,