Over the past two decades, participatory development programs that emphasize local control and decision-making have become more common around the globe. Such initiatives respond to the thought-provoking critiques of the discourse and practice of "development" that have emerged since the 1990s. Critics have argued, for example, that the development industry promotes a paternalistic attitude that sees Western standards as the benchmark against which to measure the "Third World" (Escobar 1995), privileges donor priorities over local needs, and uses aid to grow government and NGO bureaucracies rather than directly assisting community members (Ferguson 2006). It sees recipients of aid as an undifferentiated mass of underdeveloped subsistence farmers (Lewellen 2002). Participatory development programs are one response to the need for a new paradigm in community development that empowers locals while avoiding the pitfalls of "philanthropic colonialism."

Er is toenemende aandacht voor het lokaliseren van Afrikaanse voedselsystemen om daarmee wereldwijde crises beter het hoofd te kunnen bieden. Echter, het onderwerp is niet onomstreden, en er is weinig bekend over de implicaties van lokaliseringsbeleid. Deze studie presenteert een analysekader aan de hand waarvan deze implicaties, waaronder de trade-offs binnen het voedselsysteem, op systematische manier in kaart gebracht kunnen worden. Het analysekader kan op diverse cases worden toegepast, en draagt daarmee bij aan beter geïnformeerd beleid rondom lokalisering van voedselsystemen.There is increasing attention for the potential benefits of localising food African systems to better cope with global crises. However, the topic is not uncontested, and little is known about the actual implications of localisation policies for food. This study presents an analysis framework through which these implications, including trade-offs within the food system, can be explored in a systematic way.The framework can be applied to various cases, thereby contributing to better informed policies related to localising food systems.