Food sovereignty

Blesh, J., and H. Wittman (2015) "“Brasilience:” assessing resilience in land reform settlements in the Brazilian Cerrado." Human ecology 43(4): 531-546.

This study assessed the socioecological resilience
of family farms in three land reform settlements in
Mato Grosso, Brazil, located in the ecologically threatened
Cerrado biome. Using focus groups, a household
survey, and analysis of soil samples we characterized
farming systems and quantified indicators of resilience,
which we contextualized with a qualitative analysis of
distributions of power and access to rights and resources.
In Mato Grosso, where diversified agriculture
is a marginal presence in an industrialized agricultural

Wittman, H. Chappell, M.J. Abson, D.J., Bezner Kerr, R., Blesh, J. Hanspach, J. Perfecto, I.2017. A social–ecological perspective on harmonizing food security and biodiversity conservation." Regional Environmental Change 17.5: 1291-1301.

The major challenges of improving food security
and biodiversity conservation are intricately linked. To
date, the intersection of food security and biodiversity
conservation has been viewed primarily through an agricultural
‘‘production lens’’—for example, via the land
sparing/sharing framework, or the concept of sustainable
intensification. However, a productionist perspective has
been criticized for being too narrow, and failing to consider
other relevant factors, including policy, equity, and diversity.