Economy and food sovereignty in Argentina, or why it doesn't matter if we are the world's barn

Abstract

Since late XiX century, it is usual to talk about argentina as the “world’s barn”, because of its great ability to produce cereals and other food and, in the same way, a lot of mass media and politicians usually affirm that argentina is “capable of" feeding millions of people. Nevertheless, the picture of feeding in argentina has worsened in the last years, and that is because the goals on food security and food sovereignty are not just met through the country’s ability to produce food, and neither through the free game of market laws, as is proposed by some international organizations.
Since the late 70s, but more notoriously since the 90s, a structural reform process which implied an economic liberalization and deregulation of agricultural and food markets occurred in argentina . Also, during the turn of the century years, a phenomenon that begins in many others countries of the world generalizes in the country: the land grabbing. The objective of this paper is showing the effects of this accumulation pattern on food security in argentina. at the same time, we ask about the probable effects that land grabbing could have, in the long term, on food sovereignty (understood as the ability to decide about what, how, who and for whom food is produced).