•  
  •  
 

Keywords

seed sovereignty, resistance, Malawi, agroecology, political ecology, social reproduction

Abstract

Seed sovereignty is increasingly recognized as central to debates around food security, biodiversity, and rural livelihoods, particularly in the Global South. In Malawi, seed is not merely an agricultural input but a carrier of memory, resilience, and political agency. This paper explores how smallholder farmers in rural Malawi engage in everyday acts of resistance to maintain seed sovereignty amidst expanding corporate influence, restrictive state policies, and climate variability. Based on 12 months of ethnographic fieldwork in Mchinji District, I employ a political ecology framework and peasant resistance theory to analyze the lived strategies of farmers. These include seed saving, informal exchanges, gendered knowledge transmission, and community-based seed banks. Far from passive victims, Malawian peasants actively sustain agrobiodiversity and cultural identity through seemingly mundane but deeply political practices. The study contributes to critical agrarian studies by demonstrating how everyday practices form a quiet yet profound politics of resistance and autonomy.

Download

Share

COinS