Youth-led transformations in food governance: digital sovereignty, trust, and civic agency in the Global South

Food systems in the Global South are undergoing deep political and generational transformations. Across Sub‑Saharan Africa, Latin America, and South and Southeast Asia, youth represent the majority demographic but remain excluded from land ownership, agricultural policy, and governance structures that continue to favor older and elite actors. Conventional, top‑down models of food governance have reinforced this exclusion, often resulting in disillusionment and declining institutional trust. In response, new forms of civic power are emerging through youth‑led social movements that harness digital technologies, agroecological knowledge, and activist networks to contest control over food production, resources, and decision‑making. These decentralized, digitally mediated movements are redefining the meaning of food sovereignty, using peer‑to‑peer mobilization and open digital infrastructures to reclaim agency in food system governance. Yet, this phenomenon remains under‑investigated in academic and policy research, particularly concerning its differentiated expressions across regions and its implications for institutional accountability and democratic resilience.

This Research Topic aims to examine how youth civic engagement, digital activism, and social movements across the Global South are reshaping food governance and redefining the relationship between citizens, institutions, and food system transformation. It will bring together political ecology, digital sociology, and agrarian studies to analyze how informal networks of young “food citizens” mobilize online and offline to challenge inequalities, redefine governance spaces, and co‑produce sustainable futures. The Topic seeks contributions that not only describe these movements but critically evaluate how they transform trust, legitimacy, and power within fragile or contested governance systems.

To gather further insights, we welcome submissions addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:

Youth‑led food movements, climate activism, and advocacy for inclusive food governance across the Global South;
Digital food sovereignty and the use of technology for civic mobilization, transparency, and accountability;
Gendered and intergenerational struggles for land access and agrarian reform;
Comparative case studies of decentralized, youth‑driven governance models in Sub‑Saharan Africa, Latin America, and South and Southeast Asia;
The political economy of “youthwashing” in international development and agrifood policy;
Material and digital inequalities shaping participation, connectivity, and representation among rural and urban youth;
Mixed‑methods approaches—such as participatory action research, network analysis, and digital ethnography—to map civic and governance transformations.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Community Case Study
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Community Case Study
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: youth civic power, food system governance, digital sovereignty, participatory governance, food justice, community engagement, Global South, trust, policy transformation, sustainable food systems

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.