By Tania Salas
Tania is currently a student on our MA Intercultural Communication and International Development programme. You can follow her on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Initially, the idea of Development rested solely on Western knowledge and modernisation, and admitted economic parameters (Willis, 2011) as the only valid reference for policy development and implementation. An approach backed by neoliberal economic policies that disregarded social and environmental aspects as well as existing power-relations and the colonial history of many nation-states. Economic parameters help understand inequalities faced at different spatial scales (Willis, 2011); however, they do not present a country's whole reality. This road to Development has been criticised by new approaches that question "the theoretical foundations upon which mainstream development policy rests" (Radcliffe, 2015, p.856). Furthermore, neoliberalism's outcomes have caused increasing social unrest and dissatisfaction in many countries and ignited protests that "triggered a renewed debate on possible different futures" (Pradella and Marois, 2013, p. 1) or alternatives to Development.
The Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional (EZLN) and the Zapatista movement constitute an interesting case of an alternative to development. As an indigenous revolutionary group, it still has, after more than 25 years in operation, political and social influence in Mexico's south-east region, particularly in Chiapas. Contrary to the initial approach to Development, Zapatistas place indigenous rights, the community and autonomy at the centre of their struggle and reject the neoliberal project. This approach can help us rethink contemporary development issues concerning food security and food sovereignty and visualise possible new solutions to them.
Food and the Zapatista movement
Activists and academics have pointed out that a possible solution to food insecurity lies in food sovereignty. That is, broadly speaking, to stop dependency on big industrial food production by supporting local small-scale production, ranchers, and families. It is through agroecology that the Zapatistas put this alternative to action. For instance, in 2003, they formed committees to help indigenous communities transition from conventional to agro-ecological agriculture (Hernández, Perales, and Jaffee, 2020). These committees also encouraged the creation of community-based food production collectives that contribute in a "modest amount to household's food security" (Hernández, Perales, and Jaffee, 2020). Agroecology is also linked with 'seed sovereignty', a social movement that in Chiapas aims to distribute seeds of Zapatista corn to avoid transgenic contamination and preserve maise variety (Brandt, 2014). Simultaneously, this opens up the possibility to participate in new commercial and agricultural practices; for example, Zapatista corn is now being grown in countries like India, Canada, and Spain (Brandt, 2014).
The right to land and adequate food supply has been a priority for Zapatistas from the beginning of the movement. Agroecology, food-production collectives, seed sovereignty or the efforts to adapt crops to climate change (Hernández, Perales, and Jaffee, 2020) are just some of the strategies implemented by the Zapatistas to achieve food security through food sovereignty. Nevertheless, the movement is not without its criticisms, and further research is needed to thoroughly understand the impact these strategies have had on matters beyond food security.
Overall, Zapatistas are a case in point of the power of strong communities and how community-led initiatives can not only challenge the status quo, but provide interesting solutions to current and future challenges locally and globally.
Bibliography
- Brandt, M. (2014) ‘Zapatista corn: A case study in biocultural innovation’, Social Studies of Science [online]. 44(6), 874–900. Available from doi: 10.1177/0306312714540060.
- Gordillo, G. and Méndez, O. (2013) Food security and sovereignty [online]. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Available at: http://www.fao.org/3/a-ax736e.pdf.
- Hernández, C., Perales, H. and Jaffee, D. (2020) ‘“Without Food there is No Resistance”: The impact of the Zapatista conflict on agrobiodiversity and seed sovereignty in Chiapas, Mexico’, Geoforum [online]. 26(1). Available from doi: 10.1016/j.geoforum.2020.08.016.
- Pradella, L. and Marois, T. (eds) (2013) Polarizing development: alternatives to neoliberalism and the crisis [online]. London, UK: Pluto Press. Available from: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/sheffield/reader.action?docID=3386787
- Radcliffe, S. A. (2015). Development alternatives. Development and Change [online]. 46(4), 855-874. Available from: doi: 10.1111/dech.12179
- Vergara-Camus, L. (2014) Land and Freedom: The MST, the Zapatistas and Peasant Alternatives to Neoliberalism [online]. London, UK: Zed Books. Available from: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/sheffield/reader.action?docID=1782247
- Willis, K. (2011) Theories and Practices of Development. 2nd edn. USA: Routledge (Routledge Perspectives on Development).
