Power Contestations in the Use of Agri-food Data: Towards a Sustainability Governance Approach
-
University of Ottawa; Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies
Canada -
University of Ottawa; University of Johannesburg Canada
-
University of Ottawa Canada
Abstract
Law is intrinsically embedded in politics. Prevailing dynamics and norms can significantly impact new legal rules; hence, there is a need to interrogate the spectrum of engagements of any given subject or phenomenon with the law. In the context of global governance of food and agricultural data, this article examines how power manifests in the generation and use of agri-food data, how power could construct global rules on the use of agri-food data and how the global community should respond to this realisation. It highlights the politics of technology and data and examines how these drive inequalities and inequities among certain actors and groups, taking the ensuing intersectional dynamics into account. These insights make important contributions to the debate on the global governance of food and agricultural data by shedding light on the analytical framework that can be used to recognise the unequal political economy within which the global governance of agri-food data is negotiated. It offers justifications on why and how such an opportunity should be used to correct these imbalances and redistribute the benefits of agri-food data to all stakeholders.
Downloads
Author Biographies
Dr. Jane Ezirigwe is a Visiting Scholar with the Open AIR Network, University of Ottawa, and Associate Professor at the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS).
Professor Jeremy De Beer is a professor at the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Law and a co-founding director of the Open African Innovation Research network, Open AIR. He is also a Faculty Member of the Centre for Law, Technology and Society.
Professor Chidi Oguamanam is the University Research Chair in Sustainable Bio-Innovation, Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Global Knowledge Governance, a Faculty member at the Centre for Law, Technology and Society, and a Full Professor within the Faculty of Law, Common Law Section at the University of Ottawa.
