Government and grains

The full title of the lecture is Government and grains: re-examining the historical relationship between nation states and economic security

This session of the webinar series will feature Prof. Shailaja Fennell. She is Professor of Regional Transformation and Economic Security, Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge.

Abstract

The provision of grain by national governments is a legacy long-rooted in the history of the nation state in Asia. The national struggles that ensued in the twentieth century provided a new context for the privileging of cereal policy as national governments saw feeding their populations as a feature that distinguished them from colonial and therefore uncaring administrations.The result of government policy managing the supply of food grains through agricultural subsidies is the subject of heated debate in recent decades. While advanced capitalist countries are vociferous in demanding free trade with regard to food products from developing countries, they are fiercely protective of the livelihoods of their own farmers.

This talk will contrast the emphasis on descriptions of hunger and death associated with famines, is contrasted with the narratives of productivity of food production, to show that there was unsubstantiated equivalence between food availability and economic security. The presentation will then move on to discussing an alternative framework where there is an longstanding emphasis on sustainability of agro-ecological zones instead of short-term thinking based on notions of comparative advantage. It concludes that such a framework is more effective for understanding the divergent pathways of capitalist accumulation and farmer impoverishments that uncomfortably coexist in many Asian economies today.

Speaker's Bio

Professor Shailaja Fennell is Professor of Regional Transformation and Economic Security, Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge. Her research has focussed on institutional reform and collective action, food production and rural development; gender norms and gender gaps in development interventions, and provision of public goods and the role of partnerships. She has led on international research programmes in Asia and Africa: on TIGR2ESS, a UKRI funded research programme (2018-2022) to study how to improve crop productivity and water use, identify appropriate crops and farming practices for sustainable rural development in India: , on MillNeti, a sister research programme (2019-2021) that is focussed on advancing biofortified millets to reduce iron deficiency of people living in Ethiopia and The Gambia; on an ASEAN funded project (2019-2021), leading a core team responsible for designing the framework, commissioning experts, and compiling the latest research to deliver the first ASEAN Development Outlook that focuses on policies to ensure inclusion and sustainability in South-East Asia. She is co-founder of the Forgotten Crops Society (established in 2021), a professional association across academia, corporates and civil society to advance research and development for all major, under-researched, and forgotten crops so that food security is achieved, and livelihoods are improved.

Format

Prof. Shailaja Fennell will be speaking for the first 45 minutes. We will then be holding a Q&A Session.

This session is part of the larger project:

Season II Dissecting Capitalism: Its past, present and future

This series aims to explore the tenets of capitalism over the fabric of time and examine its influence on the global economy and social classes.

More information on Season I