WEGO-ITN’s early stage researcher Irene Leonardelli – together with Lisa Bossenbroek, Hind Ftouhi, Zakaria Kadiri, Sneha Bhat, Seema Kulkarni, Meriem Farah Hamamouche, Mohamed Amine Saidani, Margreet Zwarteveen and Jeltsje Sanne Kemerink-Seyoum – has just released a new publication: “COVID-19 in Rural India, Algeria, and Morocco: A Feminist Analysis of Small-Scale Farmers’ and Agricultural Laborers’ Experiences and Inventive Practices”.
“This article is the product of an ongoing collaboration between several researchers-activists working in different rural contexts in India, Morocco and Algeria. We, the authors of this article, have different backgrounds but are all interested in studying processes of agrarian change from a feminist critical perspective. We work together on several projects including the Transformations to Groundwater Sustainability (T2GS) project and the DUPC2 funded project “Farming in times of crises: experiences, responses and needs of smallholder farmers during the COVID19 pandemic”.
Writing this article together was a way to remain engaged with the farmers and the agricultural labourers we met during our fieldwork, as we were all concerned about how the COVID-19 pandemic could affect them. It was also a way to remain virtually connected, share stories and inspire each other during difficult times. As mentioned in the conclusions of the article: “We hope that these insights and discussions can contribute to constructively engage with the different entangled socionatural challenges, uncertainties and marginalizations that agricultural actors face and bring about the lasting transformations this world needs post COVID-19.”
You can read the full text here.
For more information about Irene’s work, listen to her episode on our The Feminist Political Podcast.