Producer Perspectives: Local Food System Development in the Global South

Cowart, Jillian (2015) Producer Perspectives: Local Food System Development in the Global South. Undergraduate thesis, under the direction of John J. Green from Sociology, University of Mississippi.

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Abstract

Local food systems can be used to promote more equitable and sustainable development in communities internationally, but farmers often face challenges in further developing and promoting the systems in which they participate. Through this comparative study of producers involved in two local food systems in the global south – Sokone, Senegal and Cleveland, Mississippi – farmers were interviewed to determine what challenges and opportunities they face in regard to this area of development. In addition to observations of the two communities’ farmers markets, intensive interviews were conducted with ten farmers in Sokone and nine farmers in Cleveland. Qualitative data were analyzed according to the similarities and differences within and between the two locations, and three themes emerged. By analyzing the farmers’ perceptions of land ownership, food security, and government interaction, this study addresses the successes of and challenges faced by farmers in each community’s food system. Farmers appear to have more food sovereignty in Sokone with greater access to land and more value placed on land for cultivation. While Cleveland is perceived to be more food secure, the interviews reveal that this food security is not locally based, as opposed to local solutions to food insecurity which were proposed by farmers in Sokone. In regard to government interaction, Sokone farmers noted the need to better utilize existing policies while Cleveland farmers expressed the need for policy changes. This comparative study discusses the potential development policy implications resulting from these findings as they could result in the improvement of strategies for developing local food systems.

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