From “Climate-Smart” to “Climate-Just Agriculture”

Combining innovative social theory with ongoing policy discussions on climate change, this book analyzes past and present efforts at challenging global poverty through reforming the dynamics of worldwide agricultural production.

Focusing on the efforts of the World Bank and CGIAR research centers, particularly through research and projects that have been launched by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), "Climate-Smart" to "Climate-Just" exposes how neoliberal principles of limited government and individual entrepreneurship have expanded through the development of "Climate-Smart Agriculture." At the same, an alternative - "Climate-Just Agriculture" - is becoming possible as rightwing populists have disrupted international free trade orthodoxy, and social movement demands for food sovereignty gain traction in key international spaces.

As Pahnke explains in this innovative account, "Climate-Just Agriculture" includes structural changes to free trade agreements that would build from local and regional food systems to make them resilient in the face of the adverse effects of climate change. This resiliency, moreover, allows marginalized groups the capacity to create and participate in markets that allow for greater self-sufficiency as they push back on colonialism and imperialism.

Written in a clear and accessible style, this book will be essential reading to students and scholars of sociology, environmental studies, and politics, as well as policymakers and professionals involved with climate change policy and the agriculture and food industry.