An assessment of socio-cultural aspect of large scale food production policies and politics in Africa

Abstract

Africa was identified as a food basket at the turn of the 21st century. This led to land grabbing in the continent in a bid to ensure "global food security"/food sovereignty. From a liberal theoretical perspective, Africa is a centre where food could be produced for the rest of the world with twin concepts of value added and beneficiation to the host communities. In trying to achieve this, problems such as displacement of indigenous peoples, destabilisation of ecosystem/biodiversity and violation of the second and third generations of human rights are expected to emanate. Other challenges, such as the neutralisation of organic foods and introduction of genetically modified (GM) plants and animals by multinational agro-industries may not receive proper focus by host countries due to their low level of technology, poor policy formulation and implementation, and high level of corruption at every level of government; this may erode the socio-cultural aspect of food production in Africa. It is the intention of this paper to adopt embedded liberal theory and secondary data gathering method in examining the crises of large scale food production as pushed forward through globalisation. In doing this, questions of property ownership; free, prior and informed consent (FPIC); geographical indications (GIs); and access, sharing and benefit (ASB) worth considering to avoid militancy that litters the continent. It is the conclusion of this paper to call for global respect for treaties, conventions and declarations that protect the interests of small farm holders in ensuring sustainable development in Africa.