“<i>I came all this way to receive training, am I really going to be taught by a woman</i>?” Factors that support and hinder women’s participation in agroecology in Costa Rica

Sylvester, Olivia; Little, Mary

doi:10.1080/21683565.2020.1811830

Cited by 13 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…To better support organic food access, the creation of delivery platforms during market disruptions is recommended based on consumers responses in this study; one of the markets (Aranjuez) has created an option to order food online for pick-up on market days. Such delivery platforms need to be inclusive considering some smallholder farmers in Costa Rica have reported challenges in access to the internet as well as to technological support (Sylvester & Little, 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of the Covid-19 lockdown on access to organic food in San José, Costa Rica

Sylvester

2021

URJ

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Introduction: The Covid-19 pandemic has led to increased awareness of food security in urban areas and to the role of farmers’ markets in providing essential services to consumers. Objective: To better understand how Covid-19 affected consumer access to organic food at two major organic farmers’ markets in the Costa Rican metropolitan area. Methods: In April 2020 after the strict Costa Rica lockdown, 52 organic market consumers completed online questionnaires regarding their purchasing and consumption patterns. Results: The majority of participants reported decreasing or stopping visits to organic markets (81%). The most frequent source of food during the pandemic was large supermarkets (52%) followed by online or direct delivery from farmers (15%). The majority of participants reported less access to organic products since the onset of the pandemic (71%). Conclusion: Covid-19 has impacted access to organic food at farmer’s markets; recommendations include greater support for direct and online delivery of organic products to increase access to health food.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of the Covid-19 lockdown on access to organic food in San José, Costa Rica

Sylvester

2021

URJ

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“…Despite Costa Rica's "green" image, less than 2% of agricultural land is used for organic cultivation (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD], 2017). The Ministry of Agriculture does promote some sustainable practices, but support is inconsistent, and extension education services often depend on the knowledge and interest of local field officers (Sylvester & Little, 2020). Agroecological farmers have been working individually or in small collectives to extricate themselves from agro-industrial systems.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Food democracy as food security strategy: The case of a Costa Rican tourism town

Little,

Horn,

Sit

2024

J. Agric. Food Syst. Community Dev.

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Tourism communities such as Monteverde, Costa Rica, the site of this study, have been profoundly impacted by the loss of tourism revenue during COVID-19. Faced with intensified food insecurity caused by the cascading impacts of this pandemic, the community has organized initiatives to stimulate local, sustainable food production to increase food security during the COVID-19 economic recovery. This paper adopts a food democracy framework to analyze restaurants’ regional food purchases, barriers to local purchasing, and tourists’ interest in and ability to identify local food products. Our findings show that nearly all restaurant owners identified benefits of purchasing regional food but reported multiple barriers to buying locally. Tourists reported high interest in eating locally produced food but do not have enough information to identify farm-to-fork options. Local food initiative stakeholder interviews show that emergent strategies demonstrate a move toward food democracy actions by promoting communication and co-learning between restaurants, food producers, and tourists to reinforce principles of food democracy. Based on our findings, we recommend (a) strengthening producer-to-restaurant networks, (b) enhancing communication of local food production benefits and responsibilities to restaurants, and (c) promoting the locally made certification for restaurants to strengthen localized food networks and direct tourists to transformative food strategies underway in Monteverde.

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“…Insights from various case studies around the world report poor working conditions [37], higher workload absorbed by unpaid family labor [38,39], unpaid labor arrangements such as internships [40,41], and attest agroecology (self-)exploitative tendencies due to heavy workload [42][43][44]. The considerable workload-the drudgery of work-has been repeatedly identified as a barrier to adopting agroecological practices [45,46], especially for people engaged in care work [47][48][49].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Green Agendas and White Markets: The Coloniality of Agroecology in Senegal

Marfurt

Haller

Bottazzi

2023

Land

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Development actors in West Africa have been promoting agroecological farming as a solution to combat climate change and to create more sovereign food systems that enhance the autonomy of local smallholders. However, there is a lack of empirical evidence regarding the actual implementation of such programs and their potential to empower smallholders, especially in the West African region. Drawing on co-produced knowledge from anthropological fieldwork in Western Senegal, the case study of an alternative food network explores the interlinkages between the promotion of agroecology, anti-migration policies, and unequal power and market relations. Informed by decolonial political ecologies, the analysis reveals different layers of coloniality which complicate embodied effects on horticultural smallholders. The authors conclude that instead of fostering the emancipation of smallholders, development actors promote a labor-intensive and unprofitable way of farming that exploits local resources for the sake of green agendas and white markets. This article highlights the need for a critical reflection on the potential limitations of agroecology and calls for a more nuanced approach that considers the complex realities of smallholders in West Africa.

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“I came all this way to receive training, am I really going to be taught by a woman?” Factors that support and hinder women’s participation in agroecology in Costa Rica

Cited by 13 publications

References 24 publications

The impact of the Covid-19 lockdown on access to organic food in San José, Costa Rica

The impact of the Covid-19 lockdown on access to organic food in San José, Costa Rica

Food democracy as food security strategy: The case of a Costa Rican tourism town

Green Agendas and White Markets: The Coloniality of Agroecology in Senegal

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