Opportunities and challenges for food sovereignty policies in Latin America: The case of Nicaragua

Abstract

In 2009, Nicaragua joined a growing number of Latin American nations with the passing of its Law of Food and Nutritional Sovereignty and Security. The law combines elements of both the Right to Food and Food Sovereignty frameworks and offers a broader and radical perspective to achieve the right to food. This chapter explores the origins of the law, the process by which it was passed, and its institutional framework. The chapter puts particular emphasis on the role of peasant and other civil society organizations in conceiving and adopting the law, as well as the mechanisms for participation of civil society in implementing the law. More generally, this chapter explores the potential of the law to enhance democratic food and agricultural policymaking. A member of the Dominican Republic Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) and the Bolivarian Alliance of the Americas (ALBA), Nicaragua offers a unique perspective of the role of internal and external factors in the design and implementation of new food policies to achieve the right to food.