The discursive flexibility of ‘flex crops’: comparing oil palm and jatropha

Abstract

'Flex crops' such as corn, oil palm and soy are understood to have multiple, interchangeable uses; they have material flexibility. We propose that discursive flexibilitythe ability to strategically switch between discourses to promote an objectiveequally shapes the political economy of flex crops and thereby patterns of agrarian and environmental change. Comparing oil palm and Jatropha curcas, we find that actors who cast oil palm as a multi-scale solution to food and energy insecurity, climate change and (rural) poverty successfully reinforce its high material flexibility. Jatropha's proponents compensate for low material flexibility by positioning the crop as a 'sustainable' energy source that achieves both global and local goals. While this paper focuses on discourses that reinforce the oil palm and jatropha projects, understanding the power of discursive maneuvering can also inform efforts to contest them.

Farming out of place:

“…Along with the subordination of use value to exchange value, labor and nature become secondary factors to market prices in terms of production decisions (Gillon ). Flex crops are flexible not only materially (being redirected to different products and uses) but also discursively (being used strategically to support arguments for sustainable development and progress; Hunsberger and Alonso‐Fradejas ). These flexibilities, however, only partially explain how transnational, detached farming becomes possible.…”

Explaining bioenergy: representations of jatropha in Kenya before and after disappointing results

“…Recent pro-biofuel discourses draw on the idea that the most common sources of biofuel offer solutions to many problems because they are ‘flex crops’—crops that can be used to make food, feed, fuel, and commercial and/or industrial products (Borras et al 2015) while also playing a variety of social and ecological roles. For example, industry representatives have portrayed oil palm as an efficient source of food and clean energy, a driver of economic development, and a tropical tree that stores carbon and improves biodiversity—all in one (Hunsberger and Alonso-Fradejas 2016). …”

“…These claims helped jatropha to withstand a general backlash against biofuels and perhaps also to deflect specific criticism, particularly from international NGOs (for example Friends of the Earth 2009, 2010; WWF 2009). While jatropha appears to be less flexible than oil palm because it cannot be used as food or livestock feed, its proponents have nonetheless bundled together expectations that jatropha can help mitigate climate change, provide energy, improve soil health, boost farmer incomes, improve food security and stimulate economic activity at various scales (Hunsberger and Alonso-Fradejas 2016). …”

Social Dynamics of Renewable Energy—How the European Union’s Renewable Energy Directive Triggers Land Pressure in Tanzania

“…Further, the influence from investments and global value chains is becoming increasingly obscured as some actors are rendered invisible via new forms of financialization (Clapp, 2014;Clapp & Helleiner, 2012). Due to the shifting narratives, or ''discursive flexibility'' (Hunsberger & Alonso-Fradejas, 2016), the policies and practices surrounding liquid biofuels are affected, as the language surrounding them constantly changes, including liquid biofuels being silver bullet solutions, creators of food versus fuel standoffs, and excuses for neocolonial land grabs (Neville & Dauvergne, 2016, pp. 654-655; see also Montefrio & Sonnenfeld, 2011).…”