Fadhel Kaboub theory of food sovereignty

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Fadhel Kaboub, a Tunisian educated in economics at the University of Tunis, draws a clear distinction between food security and food sovereignty, arguing that the former is a limited, technical goal while the latter is foundational to true economic freedom—particularly for countries in the Global South.

Fadhel Kaboub explains that food security focuses on ensuring people have access to enough food, but it fails to address how and where that food is produced. He critiques it as a neocolonial concept, often reliant on imports, debt, and global agribusiness—systems that undermine local economies and ecological resilience (Kaboub, 2024a; Change for Children, 2016). He states that “existing global food and energy systems have been fostered to benefit the global North at the expense of the global South … understanding modern money is vital to untangling the mess” (Kaboub, 2022).

By contrast, food sovereignty refers to the right of people and communities to produce culturally appropriate food through ecologically sound and sustainable methods. Kaboub considers it a foundation of economic and political sovereignty, as it empowers local farmers, reduces dependence on imports, and promotes agroecological practices and democratic decision-making (Kaboub, 2024a; AMES-AU-CODA-IDEAS, 2024). He explains that “African countries should leverage their abundant resources to focus on food sovereignty, energy, and developing a robust industry” (ENA, 2024), framing this shift as central to undoing the structural legacies of colonisation.

He identifies food sovereignty as one of three essential pillars—alongside energy and industrial sovereignty—necessary for real monetary and developmental autonomy in the Global South. “When you zoom in … what determines that weak level of monetary sovereignty … has to do with three basic categories—1 is lack of food sovereignty, 2 – lack of energy sovereignty and 3 – a structural deficiency in the way those countries try to industrialise” (Kaboub, 2023). Without these, countries remain constrained by colonial economic structures that make them dependent on external debt, imported food, and fossil fuels (Kaboub, 2024b; MMTed, 2023).

In relation to African nations, Kaboub argues that investing in food sovereignty can save billions in food import bills, strengthen rural economies, and increase resilience to global shocks. “He argued that the solution must lie in targeting the root cause of the problem, which is investing in food sovereignty in African countries to ensure they can feed their people” (ENA, 2024). He asserts that sovereignty-centred approaches should replace extractive, colonial-era development models that prioritise short-term gains over long-term well-being (Kaboub, 2024b; ENA, 2024).

His theory, covers food, energy and industry and can be summarised as follows:

Structural sovereignty theory (SST) in brief

Fadhel advances a theory that positions food sovereignty—alongside energy and industrial sovereignty—as essential to achieving true economic and monetary independence in the Global South. He critiques mainstream development approaches focused on food security, arguing that such models reinforce colonial dependency through reliance on imports, global markets, and external debt. In contrast, food sovereignty enables nations to control their own food systems using culturally appropriate, sustainable methods that support local livelihoods and ecological regeneration. Kaboub’s theory—known as the structural sovereignty theory—emphasises that development must be rooted in local resource control and democratic participation. Without sovereignty over food, energy, and industry, countries lack the monetary and policy space to shape their own futures. His work challenges dominant economic narratives by showing that poverty and underdevelopment are not due to internal failures but to global structures that extract value and limit autonomy. Through this lens, food sovereignty becomes both a political and ecological act—central to decolonising development, restoring dignity, and building resilient African economies.

Implications for development work in Africa

Kaboub’s framing of food sovereignty over food security has significant implications for how development work is conceptualised and practised across Africa:

  • Training: Development practitioners must be equipped to work within sovereignty-based frameworks. This requires training that includes political economy, agroecology, decolonial theory, and sustainable local systems. It calls for a shift away from donor-driven, technocratic solutions to contextually grounded, people-led strategies.
  • Education: Curricula in African universities and training institutes should centre food sovereignty, not merely food availability. Education should teach students to critically interrogate global food systems and empower them to innovate within local knowledge systems, traditional farming practices, and communal resource management.
  • Practice: Development programmes should prioritise investments in small-scale, local agriculture, agroecology, seed sovereignty, and local food markets. Practice must be inclusive of rural voices and indigenous knowledge systems, strengthening resilience rather than dependency on imports or aid.
  • Research: Future research must interrogate the political, historical, and economic structures that have undermined food sovereignty in Africa. Methodologies should be participatory and decolonial, focusing on lived experience, local knowledge, and systems thinking. Researchers should document and amplify grassroots alternatives that align with ecological sustainability and social justice.

This paradigm shift not only challenges Western development orthodoxies but calls for African-led models rooted in self-determination, environmental ethics, and economic sovereignty. Adopting food sovereignty as a developmental principle places African voices, land, and knowledge at the centre of sustainable futures.

Implications for environmental social work

From the standpoint of environmental social work in Africa, Kaboub’s advocacy for food sovereignty reinforces the need to ensure that communities have access to the environmental resources necessary to sustain life, health, and livelihoods. This involves a recognition that land, water, seeds, forests, and local ecosystems are not just environmental assets but the foundation of household, community, national, and continental wellbeing.

Environmental social work must therefore engage in the protection and equitable redistribution of these environmental resources. Practitioners should challenge land dispossession, climate injustice, and environmental degradation linked to extractive industries and large-scale agribusiness. They must also support communal land rights, agroecological farming, and the capacity of local communities to regenerate their environments.

In this context, environmental social work becomes a decolonial, political, and ecological practice aimed at reconnecting people to land in ways that allow for sustainable food production, decent incomes, and social cohesion. Kaboub’s work challenges the profession to resist environmental interventions that serve external interests and instead promote sovereignty, dignity, and regeneration from the ground up.

Food security

A technical goal ensuring food access but often reliant on imports and global markets.

Food sovereignty

A political and ecological right to locally controlled, culturally appropriate, and sustainable food systems. It allows countries to retain foreign exchange, reduce debt, and assert economic and political independence.

Kaboub argues that food sovereignty, not food security, is the only sustainable, decolonial framework for building economic resilience and true sovereignty in the Global South—especially in Africa.

References

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