Behind headlines of a prosperous Saskatchewan agricultural sector, there is a less evident storm brewing in the global agricultural community. Locally and abroad, farmers are increasingly struggling to manage devastating droughts, depleted water supplies, degraded soil, and other consequences of an increasingly obvious climate crisis. Farming systems with the potential to mitigate the crisis—like models based on farmer co-operation—are not being considered.
In a virtual event hosted by the Canadian Centre for the Study of Co-operatives, globally renowned development economist Dr. Bina Agarwal proposes that we need to rethink the way we farm by moving away from unsustainable and unequal farm sectors towards alternatives that are technologically, environmentally, and institutionally different. Drawing on her extensive research in South Asia, Europe, and most recently, in Saskatchewan, she will discuss the nature of our global farm crisis and share insights on whether and how cooperation among farmers could be economically and socially beneficial in developing countries and here in Canada.
About our speaker
Dr. Bina Agarwal is a Professor of Development Economics and Environment at the University of Manchester and an award-winning author who has written extensively on land and livelihoods; environment and development; poverty and inequality; and agricultural co-operatives, especially from a gender perspective. She has held distinguished positions at many universities including Cambridge, Harvard, Princeton, Michigan, and Minnesota. Her award-winning book, A Field of One's Own: Gender and Land Rights in South Asia, pioneered the importance of women owning land. It had a strong impact on the thinking of governments, NGOs, and international agencies, and catalyzed a global call for action to promote women’s land rights, including in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Dr. Agarwal’s visit to the University of Saskatchewan last June was made possible through the USask Global Ambassadors Program.