Diverse knowledge sources for sustainable and equitable food systems. Credit: Nature Food (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s43016-024-00966-3
In an article published today in Nature Food, a team of international experts delves into the urgent need to democratize knowledge to revolutionize the global food system. This article, titled “Knowledge Democratization Approaches for Food System Transformation,” uses traditional, indigenous, and place-based knowledge in decision-making to address blind spots in current food system policy and action. It emphasizes the need to incorporate it into the process.
A consortium of experts from diverse backgrounds, including V. Ernesto Mendez and Colin R. Anderson, professors at the University of Vermont and co-directors of the UVM Institute for Agroecology (IfA), has joined forces with It highlights the important role of democratization. global food systems.
Professor Mendez emphasizes the importance of this research for humanity. “Up until now we have privileged Western scientific knowledge, but this article urgently calls for us to embrace different kinds of knowledge and recognize the people who develop it.”
This article advocates a move towards participatory and interdisciplinary approaches that integrate a wide range of knowledge systems, including indigenous understandings, scientific understandings, and traditional understandings. By embracing this diversity of practices, researchers can generate context-appropriate solutions and promote more inclusive and equitable food systems. The authors also suggest that this is of paramount importance when developing policies that affect food systems.
The paper, led by Yale University's Samara Block, was convened by the Global Alliance for the Future of Food on the Politics of Knowledge, which brings together food system leaders to develop strategies to advance agroecology research and evidence. This is the result of an international process. Drawing on case studies from around the world, the authors focus on innovative approaches that involve local actors in knowledge production and exchange.
Examples include farmer-managed regeneration in sub-Saharan Africa, the 1,000 Farms initiative in the United States, and the Hua Parakore system in Aotearoa New Zealand. The researchers also provide examples of policy groups using this co-creator model to improve outcomes and increase adoption of innovative approaches.
Despite the wide range of expertise of the authors, Mendez points to a consistent perspective among the paper's contributors. “It’s important to note the diversity of sectors represented among our authors: we include scientists, practitioners, nonprofit staff, and philanthropists, all of whom are working hard to achieve a fair and just society. There is an urgent need to democratize the knowledge base as the basis for a sustainable food system transformation,” he explains.
The principles outlined in this article emphasize the importance of epistemic justice, cross-cultural co-creation, and knowledge reciprocity and exchange in the democratization of knowledge policy processes. These principles, the authors argue, are essential to addressing bias and empowering marginalized communities in shaping food system transformation.
Further information: Samara Brock et al., A knowledge democratization approach to food system transformation, Nature Food (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s43016-024-00966-3
Provided by University of Vermont
Source: Researchers say democratization of knowledge is urgently needed to revolutionize global food systems (10 May 2024) https://phys.org/news/2024-05-urgent -democratizing-knowledge-revolutionize Retrieved May 10, 2024-global.html
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