Agricultural Commercialization, Gender Equality and the Right to Food: Insights from Ghana and Cambodia

This book explores agricultural commercialization from a gender equality and right to food perspective, highlighting the ways in which it can reinforce and exacerbate inequalities and violate human rights. It compares two countries, Cambodia and Ghana, and examines how commercialization processes are gendered, with distinctive gender, ethnic and class dynamics in rural areas. The volume also explores the changing food cultures and the impact of these changes on the safety and quality of food. It offers insight into multiple dimensions shaping the outcomes of commercialization and provides proposals to advance rights-based research on food security.

Format: Hardback
Length: 268 pages
Publication date: 22 September 2022
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Agricultural commercialization, a multifaceted process encompassing crop sales, input purchases, land commodification, and labor exploitation, has sparked intense debate. While it has been observed globally, its impacts vary significantly in local contexts. This book delves into these dynamics in Cambodia and Ghana, two countries that underwent democratic transitions in the early 1990s, prioritized agricultural development, and embraced commercialization policies. Through a systematic examination, the book highlights gendered aspects of commercialization, revealing distinct gender, ethnic, and class dynamics in rural Ghana and Cambodia. It explores the varying outcomes these dynamics yield, as well as the transformations occurring in food cultures and their often problematic implications for food safety and quality. Chapters examine specific policies and legal norms, focusing on the development and implementation of frameworks on the right to food and land administration. The volume sheds light on numerous dimensions influencing the outcomes of commercialization processes, including gender orders, food cultures, policy translation, national and sub-national policies, corporate investments, and programs. By offering insights into these complex factors, the book contributes to a deeper understanding of the complexities surrounding agricultural commercialization and its impact on gender equality, food security, and human rights.

Weight: 700g
Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781032063768