Policy and Governance in the Agri-Food Domain in Times of the Polycrisis

Agri-food policies are increasingly expected to address a multitude of crises, from climate risks and biodiversity loss to food security and supply chain disruptions. Despite these demands, the agri-food sector has displayed significant continuity in its underlying paradigms. A defining feature of policy measures aimed at addressing unsustainable food production, processing, or consumption is the necessity for cross-sectoral governance. This requires interlinkages at local, national and global levels with various policy domains, such as environment and climate change, energy, water, public health, animal welfare, biotechnology, development, trade, security, and migration. While recent political demands seek to address multiple crises – such as climate change, biodiversity loss, water pollution, and antimicrobial resistance – the policy measures adopted often fall short of achieving the desired impacts. This shortfall has led to new governance challenges and the emergence of potentially contested modes of governance within the agri-food domain. This section brings together theoretical and empirical research on the dynamics of agri-food policymaking in times of the current polycrisis, exploring the interplay of continuity and change in the sector. Topics include the drivers and obstacles of agri-food policy reform, such as pressures from civil society, shifting policy priorities, and multiple sustainability crises; the impact of transformative innovations on agri-food policies; the influence of climate risks in shaping agri-food policy within a post-exceptionalist framework; the role of democratic innovations in fostering sustainable and inclusive local food governance; and the unique challenges faced by low- and middle-income countries in achieving food and nutrition security. 1. Exploring the dynamics of agri-food policy reform Chairs: Gerry Alons & Carsten Daugbjerg Agricultural and food policies have been subject to reform over the last three decades. Changed priorities within civil society, increased mobilization of and access for a wider range of interests with respect to food, and multiple sustainability crises in agricultures have been suggested as the drivers of reform. Under this sub-topic, we welcome papers addressing reform dynamics in past and ongoing reform efforts: How can we explain elements of continuity and change? How do experiences with previous policies feed back into current reform dynamics? 2. The politics and governance of transformative innovations in agri-food systems Chairs: Peter H. Feindt & Sandra Schwindenhammer Globally, agri-food systems undergo transformative change (e.g. digital revolution, novel proteins, inclusion-driven social innovations) although status quo-oriented policies stifle many novel approaches. Governance and policy frameworks determine the location and direction of agri-food innovations and the distribution of benefits and risks. Incumbents use policy leverage to defend state-dependent business models, while technological and social innovations draw new stakeholders to agri-food policy. This panel examines the politics and governance dynamics of transformative innovations in agri-food systems, inviting conceptual, empirical and comparative analyses of strategies, instruments, governance arrangements and outcomes. 3. Climate Risks in Agriculture and Post-Exceptionalist Policy Making Chairs: Adam Sheingate & Paolo Graziano The food sector is simultaneously a producer of greenhouse gas emissions, a source of climate change remediation, and a sector uniquely vulnerable to climate risks. Yet, agricultural policies are often resistant or slow to adopt sustainable practices. This tension is a product of post-exceptionalism, where both old and new ideas, institutions, interests and policy instruments coexist. We invite paper submissions for this panel that conceptualize this partial process of transformation in order to better understand the politics of agricultural transitions. 4. Exploring Food Governance: Local Food Strategies, Democracy, and Policy Change Chairs: Ekaterina Domorenok & Giulia Bazzan The panel addresses the governance of sustainable food systems. It seeks to advance both theoretical and empirical understanding of how, and under which conditions, democratic innovations can contribute to reinvigorating food democracy and improving food policies. We welcome contributions that examine how food democracy initiatives—such as food policy councils and participatory governance models—are designed and implemented across different territorial levels, and how they may offer pathways toward more inclusive policymaking processes and more effective policy responses. 5. Food Policy and Governance in the Global South Chairs: Ivica Petrikova & Tim Dorlach This panel explores the challenges faced by countries in the Global South regarding food and nutrition security, particularly in the face of accelerating climate change, geoeconomic turmoil and persistent inequality. The panel invites submissions that examine the political dynamics of food and nutrition policies in the Global South or that evaluate the effectiveness of different governance models in addressing food and nutrition challenges. Thus the panel seeks to contribute to a richer understanding of food policy and governance in the Global South. 6. Agri-food transition policy: what roles for government, organised interest, and other actors and coalitions? Chairs: Hens Runhaar & Minna Kaljonen The need for agri-food system transformation is widely acknowledged, but actual policy initiatives that manage to bring about such transformation appear hard in practice. At EU-level, this is evidenced by the recent push-back in the Vision for Agriculture and Food. At Member State level, the abandonment of the initial Dutch government’s commitments to an agricultural transition is exemplary. This panel aims to better understand dynamics in agri-food transition policies by bringing together research on the roles of, and interactions between, governments, organised interests, and other actors and coalitions in blocking or promoting transformative change in agri-food systems. 7. Political Deadlock and the European Parliament – Consequence for EU Agricultural Policymaking Chair: Colette Vogeler The food production sector is confronted with substantial challenges arising from its environmental and climatic impacts. Many of these challenges were addressed in the Farm to Fork Strategy, introduced by the EU in 2020. Surprisingly, in the current legislative period many reforms are completely on hold. The new political majorities in the current EP coupled with a weak Commission result in a standstill in most issues related to sustainability transitions – this also affects agricultural policy reforms. We invite contributions that analyze these current developments empirically with the aim to better understand the dynamics that cause the apparent stalemate.