Food Sovereignty and Food Security: Conflicting Models in Chilean Agriculture

The concept of food sovereignty has long been used by peasant organizations in Chile to voice their dissatisfaction with an agricultural industry that since the late 1970s primarily produces food for export and that has had detrimental effects on the environment. Many of these organizations have advocated for agroecological practices, short supply chains, and the protection of critical environmental resources essential for food production, such as land and water. On the other hand, the COVID-19 pandemic and the fertilizer crisis triggered by Russia’s war against Ukraine brought the issue of food security to the forefront of public debate in Chile. This concept was mainly embraced by the government at the time, as well as by agricultural guilds, which argued for the need to protect and promote the agricultural industry.

Drawing on document analysis, press coverage, and interviews with peasant leaders, agricultural guilds, and public officials, the paper will examine how food production and availability have been used as political tools to support different models of agriculture and advocate for state protection. Using a food regime framework and contrasting the agroecological and agro-export models, I will analyze the diverse discourses surrounding different forms of agrifood production, the destinations of agricultural outputs, and the channels of commercialization. Consequently, I will explore the political positions and demands of the diverse actors involved in agrifood production and distribution. The paper will also discuss how the government of Gabriel Boric (2022-2026) has sought to prioritize the promotion of small-scale family agriculture as a key strategy to ensure both food security and sovereignty in Chile, while simultaneously maintaining policies and public incentives that have supported the expansion of the agricultural industry since the late 1970s, thus aiming to reconcile the demands of various stakeholders.