40 Years of dialogue on food sovereignty: A review and a look ahead

We review the evolution of the food sovereignty movement from its Green Revolution origins centered on food self-sufficiency to current dialogue focused on reduced use of transgenic crops, supporting small-scale agriculture, eschewing trade liberalization, and promoting agroecology principles. We discuss food sovereignty in the context of a “right to food” as has been put forward by the United Nations. We review food sovereignty discourse to assess what it contributes to key aspects of global food security. We conclude that, while food sovereignty has promise as a normative concept, it is unlikely to be implemented in any substantive way in the near future. Forces affecting the future of food including rapid population growth, upward food price trends, globalization, and institutional path dependence in global food and agricultural input markets are formidable adversaries.