Social Movements and Food Sovereignty: Moving Timor-Leste with Permaculture

Abstract

Ending hunger and achieving global Food Security, meaning access to affordable food for everybody, appear as noble common goals of development and sustainability agendas. Still, for decades, social movements and scientists worldwide have contested the agendas underlying logics for being grounded in a New Global Economy that undermines local resilience. As elaborated with a revision of Vandana Shiva’s Stolen Harvest and the case of Timor-Leste, this not only creates sociocultural issues but also undermines sustainable food systems that could set examples in the search for alternate socioecological futures. Respectively, Food Sovereignty is argued as a more viable pursuit. Based on 2 ½ months of ethnographic fieldwork, the contribution sheds light on the visions and activities of the Timorese NGO and agroecological movement Permatil. The insights illustrate how the adoption and re-interpretation of permaculture help to address crucial challenges in the country, while promoting its rich ecological and cultural diversity.