Paper short abstract:

This paper examines global trends in the digitalisation and financialisation of food assistance and social welfare, and its influence on the structural causes of food insecurity. It will use examples from Sudan, India to compare how digital practices feed into political and economic processes.

Paper long abstract:

The last two decades have seen increasing hunger and the introduction of digitalised practices to address it. This paper examines global trends in the digitalisation and financialisation of food assistance and social welfare, and its influence on the structural causes of food insecurity. Using the concept of ‘regimes of practices’ the paper analyses digital practices and associated infrastructure as a way of governing and to understand their interaction with political and economic processes. It will use examples from Sudan, India and the UK to highlight similarities in the adoption of mb phone or web-based practices, pre-paid cards, biometric IDs, digital platforms or apps in food assistance and welfare across the Global North and South, all with an underlying neoliberal logic. While practices may vary in terms of design and process across different countries and populations, the paper will draw out similarities in exclusions, impact on social relations and behaviour, the potential for feeding into inequalities and war. As such it will include an analysis of the benefits for financial and political institutions and the retail sector. The paper ends with reflections on implications for global food security.