Reframing and Reinterpreting Policy: Participatory Institutions, Policy Implementation, and Mobilization around Urban Agriculture in Rio de Janeiro

Abstract:The contribution of participatory institutions to good governance has been widely established, but empirical work continues to provide important insights into their impacts on the policy process. Brazil's Council on Food and Nutritional Security (Consea) is a case that demonstrates how participatory institutions empower civil society actors to direct the implementation of national policies in creative ways that can circumvent obstacles in the policy process and attend to local needs. In Rio de Janeiro, a coalition of civil society actors mobilized around the issue of urban agriculture through the Municipal Consea, reframing and reinterpreting national directives oriented towards rural family farming, which resulted in the expansion and implementation of these programs and altered the relationship between urban farmers and institutional actors. Drawing on fieldwork conducted in 2015-2016, consisting of interviews and participatory observation, this research analyzes the role of a local participatory institution in fostering collaboration among civil society, state-society relations, and institutional change.