Land for whom? Justice, knowledge, and the transformation of food systems

This chapter critically examines dominant land use paradigms in food systems, particularly the dichotomies of land sparing versus land sharing and technological versus traditional practices. It describes how such framings obscure deeper structural issues, including power imbalances, inequitable access to land, and the erosion of diverse knowledges. Drawing on empirical case studies from Ucayali region in Peru and the northern Bolivian Amazon, the authors explore how land access, extractive agriculture, and global trade networks impact local food sovereignty, ecological integrity, and livelihoods. They advocate for justice-centered approaches to food system transformation along five interconnected pathways: integrative landscape approaches, land tenure reforms, landscape agroecology, true cost accounting for food, and transdisciplinary knowledge coproduction. Ultimately, they call for a pluralistic, systemic transformation that centers equity and ecological resilience across scales.