Digitalising food assistance: Political economy, governance, and food security effects across the Global North-South divide

粮食援助数字化：全球南北鸿沟的政治经济、治理和粮食安全影响

• 批准号: ES/X005550/1
• 负责人: Susanne Jaspars
• 金额: $ 110.66万
• 依托单位: School of Oriental and African Studies
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ES%2FX005550%2F1
• 关键词: Digitalising; food; assistance; Political; economy

Food insecurity is rising globally and increasing numbers of people experience humanitarian crisis or precarious livelihoods. These trends have accelerated with the 2008 global food crisis and the global pandemic, and are likely to do so again in the current global food crisis compounded by the war in Ukraine. Over the same period, governments, businesses, and aid organisations have promoted a range of digital practices to address food insecurity, including mobile phones, smart cards and banking, to transfer money, biometrics for identification, artificial intelligence to predict and categorise need, and digital platforms for market and agricultural support. There are, however, risks of exclusion, due to limited connectivity, digital skills, and need for national ID cards, which is likely to disproportionately affect politically marginalised populations, in particular displaced or migrant populations. Digital practices potentially feed into inequalities because they provide opportunities for political control through surveillance and for profit through extensive private sector involvement. The overall aim of this proposal is to understand how digitalising food assistance practices has influenced vulnerability to food security, its role as a source of power and way of governing, and to examine implications for addressing hunger, locally and globally. It will achieve this by gathering empirical evidence on the effects of digital practices as operationalised in Sudan, India, and the UK. These three case study countries were chosen to reflect the widely contrasting political economy, governance, and food security contexts in the Global North and South. Sudan is a country in protracted humanitarian crisis, India is a more stable country but has high levels of deprivation, and the UK has higher average income levels but growing levels of hunger. Globally, they are linked through colonial history, trade, finance, aid, and migration. Examining the effects of digital practices in such diverse contexts enables an analysis of how different practices influence power relations, inequality, and vulnerability to food insecurity at the local and global level. Within each country, research will consist of observation, key informant interviews, focus groups, and direct engagement with international and local organisations, social movements, village and camp representatives, migrant groups, unions, government, and business. Working with researchers from each case study country, the project will promote equal research partnerships through co-leadership and contribute to eroding the historically dominant relations of coloniser and colonised. The research will be led by SOAS, University of London (UK), the Institute for Human Development (IHD) in New Delhi (India), and the University of Khartoum (Sudan) (facilitated by CEDEJ-Khartoum), with the following collaborating partners engaged in food assistance: the Darfur Development and Reconstruction Agency (DDRA) in Sudan, Jan Swasthya Sahyog (JSS) in India, and the Food Foundation in the UK. This provides a unique combination of academic and policy networks. With expertise in development and humanitarian studies, food studies, politics, and anthropology, the research will contribute to theory on the societal and governmental effects of digitalisation, on the political economy of aid and social welfare, and on the structural causes of food insecurity. The research findings will also have direct implications for policy, ranging from the risks of excluding vulnerable populations, to private sector benefits and security concerns, to implications for sovereignty, and for holding governments and aid actors to account. A number of working papers, policy reports, blogs, podcasts, and a photo series, will be produced throughout the project and disseminated via a dedicated SOAS website and social media account, and regular seminars (e.g., the SOAS Food Forum) and workshops.

全球粮食不安全状况正在加剧，越来越多的人面临人道主义危机或生计不稳定。这些趋势随着2008年全球粮食危机和全球大流行病而加速，并可能在当前的全球粮食危机中再次加速，乌克兰战争加剧了这一趋势。在同一时期，政府、企业和援助组织推广了一系列数字化实践来解决粮食不安全问题，包括移动的电话、智能卡和银行转账、生物识别识别、人工智能预测和分类需求，以及市场和农业支持的数字平台。然而，由于连通性和数字技能有限，以及对国民身份证的需求，存在被排斥的风险，这可能会不成比例地影响政治边缘化人口，特别是流离失所或移民人口。数字实践可能加剧不平等，因为它们通过监视提供政治控制的机会，并通过广泛的私营部门参与获利。该提案的总体目标是了解数字化粮食援助做法如何影响粮食安全的脆弱性，其作为权力来源和治理方式的作用，并研究对解决当地和全球饥饿问题的影响。它将通过收集有关苏丹，印度和英国实施的数字实践效果的经验证据来实现这一目标。选择这三个案例研究国家是为了反映全球南北方截然不同的政治经济、治理和粮食安全背景。苏丹是一个处于长期人道主义危机中的国家，印度是一个更稳定的国家，但贫困程度很高，英国的平均收入水平较高，但饥饿程度不断上升。在全球范围内，它们通过殖民历史、贸易、金融、援助和移民联系在一起。研究数字实践在如此不同的背景下的影响，可以分析不同的实践如何影响地方和全球层面的权力关系、不平等和粮食不安全的脆弱性。在每个国家，研究将包括观察，关键线人访谈，焦点小组，并与国际和地方组织，社会运动，村庄和营地代表，移民团体，工会，政府和企业的直接参与。该项目将与来自每个案例研究国家的研究人员合作，通过共同领导促进平等的研究伙伴关系，并有助于侵蚀殖民者和被殖民者的历史主导关系。这项研究将由SOAS、伦敦大学（联合王国）、新德里（印度）人类发展研究所（IHD）和喀土穆大学（苏丹）（由喀土穆经济发展和司法中心提供便利）牵头，并与下列参与粮食援助的合作伙伴合作：苏丹的达尔富尔发展和重建局（DDED）、印度的Jan Swasthya Sahyog（JSS）和联合王国的粮食基金会。这提供了学术和政策网络的独特组合。凭借发展和人道主义研究，食品研究，政治学和人类学方面的专业知识，该研究将有助于数字化的社会和政府影响，援助和社会福利的政治经济学以及粮食不安全的结构性原因的理论。研究结果还将对政策产生直接影响，从排斥弱势群体的风险，到私营部门的利益和安全问题，到对主权的影响，以及对政府和援助行为体的问责。将在整个项目期间制作一些工作文件、政策报告、博客、播客和一系列照片，并通过专门的SOAS网站和社交媒体账户以及定期研讨会（例如，SOAS食品论坛）和研讨会。