Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-6-2013
Abstract
Strong feedback between global biodiversity loss and persistent, extreme rural poverty are major challenges in the face of concurrent food, energy, and environmental crises. This paper examines the role of industrial agricultural intensification and market integration as exogenous socio-ecological drivers of biodiversity loss and poverty traps in Latin America. We then analyze the potential of a food sovereignty framework, based on protecting the viability of a diverse agroecological matrix while supporting rural livelihoods and global food production. We review several successful examples of this approach, including ecological land reform in Brazil, agroforestry, milpa, and the uses of wild varieties in smallholder systems in Mexico and Central America. We highlight emergent research directions that will be necessary to assess the potential of the food sovereignty model to promote both biodiversity conservation and poverty reduction.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Rights Information
© 2013 Chappell MJ et al.
Recommended Citation
Chappell MJ, Wittman H, Bacon CM, Ferguson BG, Barrios LG, Barrios RG, Jaffee D, Lima J, Méndez VE, Morales H, Soto-Pinto L. Food sovereignty: an alternative paradigm for poverty reduction and biodiversity conservation in Latin America. F1000Research. 2013;2.
DOI
10.12688/f1000research.2-235.v1
Link to Article at Publisher Website
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