Speaker
Description
Since October 2019, Lebanon has been witnessing radical crises that revealed the fragility of the mainstream food system. The collapse of the banking sector, political instability, and the COVID-19 pandemic have drastically reduced purchasing power and exacerbated socio-economic vulnerabilities. Compounded by geopolitical tensions and the influx of Syrian refugees, these crises have intensified concerns about food security, with alarming indicators highlighting inequities at both national and sub-national levels. Amid collapsing public institutions and rising food insecurity, vibrant civil society organizations (CSOs) have played a significant role in planning for a more just and sustainable food system. These organizations have developed socially innovative practices tackling food issues. By leveraging socio-technical disruptions caused by the crises, some have successfully scaled up their models offering the potential for alternative food models to the mainstream food system. Although the Lebanese case is not unique, its radical crises and vibrant civil society offer exceptional moments and a compelling context for developing empirical analyses on planning for a just and sustainable food system.
Using a multi-disciplinary approach from planning and organizational development disciplines, this study examines how various CSOs in Lebanon mobilized to address institutional voids and explores their socially innovative practices to scale up their Alternative Food Models (AFMs) during radical crises. By linking Lebanon’s food system transitions to global food regimes and applying the Multi-Level Perspective (MLP) framework, the study contextualizes crises-driven socio-technical disruptions as opportunities for niche innovations to scale up and develop alternative models. After mapping food-related initiatives developed by CSOs across Lebanon during the crises, the study applied Frake and Manissa’s (2018) framework to examine the planning practices of 5 significant AFMs involved in scaling up processes, focusing on interventions, mechanisms, and outcomes. A mixed-method approach was employed, and fieldwork was conducted in two phases. In the summer of 2022, semi-structured interviews were carried out with key stakeholders, including CSO representatives, donors, local producers, municipalities, and implementing partners. In the summer of 2023, the second phase involved participatory observation, further interviews, and a social media analysis.
The study identified five types of scale-up strategies the five selected AFMs developed, ranging from temporary measures to more sustainable approaches that might create systemic change. They mainly worked on expanding their spatial reach, diversifying food-related services, and increasing public awareness of local and agroecological practices. However, the type and sustainability of their approaches were shaped by the mechanisms they adopted, including governance restructuring, efficient resource management, knowledge development through experimental learning, and strategic networking. These scaling efforts aimed to address immediate food insecurity while contributing to broader food system transitions and/or the enhancement of local development.
This study offers critical insights into how civil society organizations can play a transformative role in addressing food system vulnerabilities in fragile and crisis-affected contexts. Understanding the socially innovative approaches of the different AFMs and their scale-up practices within a fragile context like Lebanon provides valuable insights into food planning during crisis-driven situations. By offering insights into scalable, community-driven approaches, it gives planners, policymakers, and practitioners with strategies to address complex food security challenges while promoting resilience, sustainability, and equity. These findings are globally relevant, offering transferable lessons for planning just and sustainable food systems in the face of escalating planetary crises.
References
Cabannes Y, Marocchino C and FAO (eds) (2018) Integrating Food into Urban Planning. London: UCL Press.
Frake A and Messina J (2018) Toward a Common Ontology of Scaling Up in Development. Sustainability 10(3): 835.
Moragues-Faus A, Battersby J, Clark JK, et al. (eds) (2023) Handbook of Urban Food Governance. Routledge environment and sustainability handbooks. London ; New York, NY: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.
Mukahhal W, Abebe GK, Bahn RA, et al. (2022) Historical Construction of Local Food System Transformations in Lebanon: Implications for the Local Food System. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems 6: 870412.
Verdeil É (2018) L’émergence des études urbaines au Liban Engagements critiques locaux et mondialisation des pratiques académiques. Available at: https://hal.science/hal-02436236 (accessed 26 September 2023).
| Keywords | Alternative Food Models; Scale-up; Radical Crises; Lebanon |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | No |
