Title:
COVID-19 in Rural India, Algeria, and Morocco: A Feminist Analysis of Small-Scale Farmers' and Agricultural Laborers' Experiences and Inventive Practices
Authors:
Irene Leonardelli1,2*, Lisa Bossenbroek3, Hind Ftouhi4, Zakaria Kadiri5, Sneha Bhat6, Seema Kulkarni6, Meriem Farah Hamamouche7,8, Mohamed Amine Saidani4,7,8,9, Margreet Zwarteveen1,2 and Jeltsje Sanne Kemerink-Seyoum1,2
1. Water Governance Department, IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, Delft, Netherlands
2. Governance and Inclusive Development Group, Amsterdam Institute of Social Science Research, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
3. iES Landau, Institute for Environmental Sciences, University of Koblenz-Landau, Landau, Germany
4. Département des Sciences Humaines, Institute of Agronomic and Veterinary Institute Hassan II, Rabat, Morocco
5. Faculty of Arts and Humanities Ain-Chock, University Hassan II, Casablanca, Morocco
6. Society for Promoting Participative Ecosystem Management (SOPPECOM), Pune, India
7. Bureau d'Etudes, Consulting dans le domaine Agricole (ECA), Algiers, Algeria
8. Joint Research Unit “Water Management, Actors, Territories” (UMR G-Eau), CIRAD, Montpellier, France 9Montpellier SupAgro, Montpellier, France
Published:
Frontiers in Human Dynamics, 15 April 2021
From the article:
In this paper we present a situated analysis of the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on the life of small-scale farmers and agricultural laborers in India, Algeria, and Morocco. We draw on data collected through phone interviews since April 2020. Inspired by feminist scholars, we analyze our findings thinking with—and entangling—the concepts of intersectionality, resilience and care. We firstly document the material impacts of the lockdown measures, focusing particularly on the experiences of single women farmers and laborers, whose livelihood and well-being have been notably compromised. Secondly, we unfold how different agricultural actors have come up with inventive ways to respond to the unexpected situation which they are facing. In doing so, we highlight the importance of considering the multiple and entangled socionatural challenges, uncertainties, and marginalizations that different agricultural actors experience, as well as the transformative potential of their inventive practices, which are often motivated and informed by notions of care.