This virtual event will launch Felipe Roa-Clavijo’s first book, “The Politics of Food Provisioning in Colombia. Agrarian Movements and Negotiations with the State”, published by Routledge.

The event will feature Felipe Roa-Clavijo and two discussants who will provide comments and insights on the book’s relevance and contributions to the debates on food systems and development in Colombia and Latin America. A Q&A session and interactive dialogue will follow the discussants’ comments.

About the book
The book uncovers the conflicts and politics of food provisioning: who produces what and where, and with what socio-economic effects. This analytical lens is used to explain the re-emergence of national agrarian movements, the ways they contest dominant development narratives, and their relevance in discussions about food sovereignty.

Roa-Clavijo’s analysis incorporates a wide range of voices throughout Colombia from high-level government representatives to leaders from national agrarian movements. Key findings show an underlying conflict within food provisioning based on the struggle of marginalized smallholders to develop alternative agri-food systems that can be included in local and domestic food markets in the context of a state dominated by an export and import approach.

The book argues for a new approach with the potential to reframe the debate about the future of food and agriculture in Colombia and beyond.

Chair
Laura Rival, Professor of Anthropology of Development, Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford.

Discussants
Ian Scoones, Professorial Fellow, Institute of Development Studies. University of Sussex
Jenny Pearce, Research Professor, London School of Economics and Political Science