Working in authoritarian contexts: We are currently witnessing democratic backslides or recessions of democracy in many countries as they move further towards authoritarianism. There are also other countries that have never experienced a robust democracy to begin with. In authoritarian contexts, there is little possibility for citisens to take part in public decision making, political processes are opaque, and information is often intentionally distorted, while political authority is often concentrated in the hands of small elite and decentralisation processes are not respected. This means, for example, that working on participative and inclusive decision-making concerning food systems can be challenging when decisions are made by a small group of elites, with limited input from civil society or other stakeholders. In some contexts, food may be used for political instrumentalisation; governments might control food access to reward political loyalty, for example.

Food Systems Governance in practice