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Decolonizing Food Systems Research – The Case of Household Agricultural Food Access in Bikotiba, Togo

Kibler, Katryna Maria
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9745-31902021
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=antioch1639483474101481

Abstract Details

2021, Ph.D., Antioch University, Antioch New England: Environmental Studies.
Indigenous West African farmers are among the most climate change threatened globally. Food insecurity is prevalent in West Africa because ecological, social, political, and economic instabilities, and globalization worsen climate pressures. In this study, I collaborated with the community of Bikotiba (bih-CO-ti-buh), Togo, to understand their household agricultural food access, one aspect of resilience to food insecurity. I adopted a feminist approach of reflexivity, radical vulnerability, and radical empathy, combined with decolonizing principles, to argue that there could be an ethical way for well-trained Western researchers to engage Indigenous communities, if negotiated carefully. Together, Indigenous Research Assistants and I developed and conducted semi-structured interviews in the local language, Bassari, with 56% of the heads of households in Bikotiba, and led community meetings with the demographics of men, women, and students. We learned that maize production in Bikotiba is threatened by climatic, political, and environmental changes, making maize subsistence a glaring leverage point in the community’s food security, in addition to the social-political-economic and human rights injustices keeping rural farmers impoverished in Togo. This study demonstrates the cross-cultural possibilities to advance food systems research with Indigenous communities if Western scholars foster feminist decolonizing principles. This research is only possible if supported by communities like Bikotiba, and this study provides compelling insights on the possibilities when communities support research.
Rachel Thiet, PhD (Committee Chair)
Jean Kayira, PhD (Committee Member)
Livia Bizikova, PhD (Committee Member)
221 p.
African History; Agriculture; Climate Change; Ecology; Environmental Justice; Environmental Science; Environmental Studies; International Relations; Livestock; Minority and Ethnic Groups; Natural Resource Management; Personal Relationships; Social Research; Sub Saharan Africa Studies; Sustainability
Climate Change; Neocolonization; Feminism; Maize; Resilience to Food Insecurity; West Africa

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Kibler, K. M. (2021). Decolonizing Food Systems Research – The Case of Household Agricultural Food Access in Bikotiba, Togo [Doctoral dissertation, Antioch University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=antioch1639483474101481

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Kibler, Katryna. Decolonizing Food Systems Research – The Case of Household Agricultural Food Access in Bikotiba, Togo. 2021. Antioch University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=antioch1639483474101481.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Kibler, Katryna. "Decolonizing Food Systems Research – The Case of Household Agricultural Food Access in Bikotiba, Togo." Doctoral dissertation, Antioch University, 2021. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=antioch1639483474101481

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

antioch1639483474101481
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© 2021, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Antioch University and OhioLINK.