Rethinking youth and sustainable food in Africa
When and Where
Speakers
Description
This lecture is hybrid.
Zoom Link
Meeting ID: 848 9046 6115
Passcode: 422589
Abstract:
Across Africa, red meat is an important ingredient in traditional menu. While some ethnic groups prefer live cows as bride price, others consider the offering of vegetarian meals as unwelcoming. These perceptions thrive despite the production and frequent consumption of red meat has been linked to greenhouse emissions and a plethora of non-communicable diseases respectively. Then again, legumes have been noted as possessing a three-way advantage of improving human health, soil fertility, and drought resistance. In spite of these traits, their consumption remains relatively low, whereas demand for meat is expected to surge over the next three decades. By the same reckoning, there is a growing movement of Africa’s youth raising awareness about the impact of climate change on their future. There remains, nonetheless, a likely unsettling question: Why have the voices and agencies of these activists been rarely channeled toward the culture of meat consumption across the continent. Drawing from cultural and sociopolitical theories, Dr. Nkrumah’s talk will tease out these contradictions and explore ways of empowering disempowered young activists to effectively advocate for a shift to plant-based diets.
Bio:
Dr. Bright Nkrumah is a Visiting Assistant Professor at the International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE), Clark University, in Worcester, Massachusetts. Before joining the IDCE, Bright was a Landhaus Fellow at the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society, University of Munich. Dr. Nkrumah also served as a scholar-activist at the Global Change Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, and the Center for Human Rights, University of Pretoria. He is currently the Representative for Emerging Scholars in the African Studies Association. He has taught and published extensively on climate change, environmental justice, food insecurity, sustainability, political contestation, minority rights, and democratization. He is the author of Seeking the Right to Food (2021 Cambridge University Press).