Technological Sovereignty as a Integral Part of Food Sovereignty
Discussion
Andrea Ferrante, Jim Thomas, et al. :
"As nations begin to implement strategies to recover from the effects of the global pandemic, agriculture, and its potential for ecological, social, and economic transformation, is at the top of the agenda. Although this is a promising opportunity for food sovereignty movements, the rapid expansion of big tech along with the major investment by the tech industry into agriculture signals a troubling trajectory for the future of farming. Concepts like regenerative agriculture and sustainability are quickly moving to the mainstream only to be instrumentalized to justify increased digitalization, labour displacing technologies, and biotechnology ventures (IPES-Food & ETC Group, 2021).
The Nyéléni declaration of food sovereignty emphasizes the rights of people to not only have access to healthy, culturally appropriate food, but the right to define and govern their food systems. Traditional knowledge along with technology and innovation are an integral part of agroecological food systems. Therefore, the right to define the trajectory of technological innovation must be considered a critical component of food sovereignty. Across the world peasants, farmers, and workers continue to design and build tools and technology that support vibrant agricultural systems that are socially, environmentally, and economically just.
Now is the time for organizations, networks, and communities that have been developing these grassroots agricultural innovations to come together to articulate a shared perspective of how to describe, protect and strengthen community, farmer and worker-led technology. Just as the Nyéléni Declarations on food sovereignty and agroecology brought peasant rights to the forefront, a collective understanding of technological sovereignty rooted in agroecology could serve as a vital counter narrative to dominant technology and innovation models aiming to define and disrupt the future of food and agriculture."