Abstract
The many problems of and linked to the hegemonic capitalist agro-food system—such as world hunger, price fluctuations, unsustainability of production, decline in biodiversity, and climate change—have become more pressing in recent years. The system cannot offer satisfactory solutions to these problems, but alternative approaches are not yet sufficiently strong to replace it. Thus, there is a multiplicity of agro-food problems and an ongoing search for solutions within the present system that brings different approaches to the agenda. This study first presents some special characteristics of the current agro-food system and its problems. Then, it reviews the history of policies introduced within the framework of the hegemonic system by its actors to mitigate the food problem through the perspective of food security and sustainability. Finally, it concludes that a solution to the food problem and related issues demands a radical choice between either profitability and national policies or a global approach to food and nature rights. What is required is a thoroughgoing reset of the agro-food system.
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Notes
- 1.
The main measures of food security used by the FAO are (1) the traditional measure, which considers food supply and consumption needs of a country’s population—first, production, stock changes, and net imports of food (including food aid) are calculated, then, domestic product and estimated demand or calories per person are assessed, referred to as the minimum dietary energy requirement (MDER)—and (2) the alternative method, which uses anthropometrics, such as body mass index (BMI) and stunting or wasting, especially among children (Dikshit & Gopinath, 2021, p. 1).
- 2.
For a detailed discussion on food securiy indicators, see Poudel and Gopinath (2021).
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Çetin, M., Öztürk, M. (2023). Agriculture and Food Problems and Solutions: Challenges and Capacity of the Capitalist System in the Twenty-First Century. In: Ari, A. (eds) Capitalism at a Crossroads. Springer Studies in Alternative Economics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-23257-2_4
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