This article explores the question of the efficacy of state-level food sovereignty projects for democratizing local control over food systems by examining the case of Nicaragua, where the Ortega administration (2007–present) adopted food sovereignty into policy. The main task of food sovereignty is to transform the power relations that govern food systems. This article builds on the previous work of food sovereignty scholars by arguing that devolving power to local territories is necessary but insufficient for deepening democracy, and rather must be coupled with broader transformations in state-society relations. In particular, it argues that how power is exercised in different sites and scales of decision-making is critical for gauging the extent to which local democratic control of food systems is realized. This study examines the implementation of two models of food governance that emerged in Nicaragua in the years immediately following Ortega’s election in 2007. It finds that while the two models created opportunities to deepen democracy, the state’s lack of support for autonomous citizen mobilization and their attempts to co-opt spaces for participatory democratic governance have strongly contributed to the failure of these mechanisms to enhance local control over food systems.

中文翻译：

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尼加拉瓜的粮食主权政策和对粮食系统治理民主化的追求

本文通过研究尼加拉瓜的案例，探讨了州级粮食主权项目对地方粮食系统控制民主化的有效性问题，奥尔特加政府（2007 年至今）将粮食主权纳入政策。粮食主权的主要任务是转变支配粮食系统的权力关系。本文建立在粮食主权学者先前工作的基础上，认为将权力下放给地方领土对于深化民主是必要的，但还不够，必须与更广泛的国家与社会关系的转变相结合。特别是，它认为如何在不同的地点和决策范围内行使权力对于衡量地方对粮食系统的民主控制的实现程度至关重要。