Large-scale agricultural investments and local food security – Evidence from a mixed-method case study in Benin

IF 5.6 1区 农林科学 Q1 FOOD SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY Food Security Pub Date : 2024-03-09 DOI:10.1007/s12571-023-01429-6
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Abstract

Large-scale agricultural investments (LSAIs) and their impacts on local communities in host countries have been controversially discussed in recent years. As scholars increasingly call for more structured and comprehensive analyses, we develop a mixed-method approach using an expanded version of the “Right to Food” (RtF) framework to systematically investigate the local food security impacts of a recently established tomato-producing LSAI in Central Benin, West Africa. We find that the LSAI keeps natural resources as accessible as possible for the local community and provides employment opportunities, leading to higher dietary diversity of employees and multiplier effects in the local economy. At the same time, we find inequalities regarding the compensation of former land users as well as high job insecurity for temporary laborers who face high transportation costs to reach the LSAI. We argue that fair and inclusive compensation, improved access to markets and machinery, access to natural resources for often overlooked groups (pastoralists, hunters, fishermen) and social infrastructure are crucial factors in promoting positive outcomes of LSAIs on communities and that strong local institutions play a key role for achieving this. We conclude that the specific characteristics of our case (relatively small size, labor-intensive crop, focus on regional markets) provide favorable conditions for positive impacts on local food security. We encourage further, structured mixed-method studies, ideally including longitudinal and comparative research designs, to investigate the multidimensional effects related to the establishment of LSAIs. The extended RtF framework can thereby serve as a structural lens to systematically analyze the findings.

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大规模农业投资与当地粮食安全--来自贝宁混合方法案例研究的证据
摘要 近年来,关于大规模农业投资及其对东道国当地社区影响的讨论一直备受争议。随着学者们越来越多地呼吁进行更有序、更全面的分析,我们开发了一种混合方法,使用 "食物权"(RtF)框架的扩展版本,系统地调查了西非贝宁中部最近建立的一个番茄生产大型农业投资项目对当地粮食安全的影响。我们发现,LSAI 为当地社区尽可能保留了自然资源,并提供了就业机会,从而提高了员工的饮食多样性,并对当地经济产生了倍增效应。与此同时,我们发现对原土地使用者的补偿存在不平等现象,临时工的工作也很不稳定,因为他们需要支付高昂的交通费用才能到达 LSAI。我们认为,公平和包容性的补偿、市场和机械准入的改善、经常被忽视的群体(牧民、猎人、渔民)对自然资源的获取以及社会基础设施是促进低空入侵区对社区产生积极影响的关键因素,而强大的地方机构在实现这一目标方面发挥着关键作用。我们的结论是,我们案例的具体特点(规模相对较小、劳动密集型作物、以区域市场为重点)为对当地粮食安全产生积极影响提供了有利条件。我们鼓励进一步开展结构化混合方法研究,最好包括纵向和比较研究设计,以调查与建立本地农产品加工企业相关的多维效应。因此,扩展的 RtF 框架可作为系统分析研究结果的结构性视角。
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来源期刊
Food Security
Food Security FOOD SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY-
CiteScore
14.00
自引率
6.00%
发文量
87
审稿时长
>12 weeks
期刊介绍: Food Security is a wide audience, interdisciplinary, international journal dedicated to the procurement, access (economic and physical), and quality of food, in all its dimensions. Scales range from the individual to communities, and to the world food system. We strive to publish high-quality scientific articles, where quality includes, but is not limited to, the quality and clarity of text, and the validity of methods and approaches. Food Security is the initiative of a distinguished international group of scientists from different disciplines who hold a deep concern for the challenge of global food security, together with a vision of the power of shared knowledge as a means of meeting that challenge. To address the challenge of global food security, the journal seeks to address the constraints - physical, biological and socio-economic - which not only limit food production but also the ability of people to access a healthy diet. From this perspective, the journal covers the following areas: Global food needs: the mismatch between population and the ability to provide adequate nutrition Global food potential and global food production Natural constraints to satisfying global food needs: § Climate, climate variability, and climate change § Desertification and flooding § Natural disasters § Soils, soil quality and threats to soils, edaphic and other abiotic constraints to production § Biotic constraints to production, pathogens, pests, and weeds in their effects on sustainable production The sociological contexts of food production, access, quality, and consumption. Nutrition, food quality and food safety. Socio-political factors that impinge on the ability to satisfy global food needs: § Land, agricultural and food policy § International relations and trade § Access to food § Financial policy § Wars and ethnic unrest Research policies and priorities to ensure food security in its various dimensions.
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