ABSTRACT
The ability of nation-states to make decisions about their food system was one of the most contested issues in the process leading up to the 2013 Bali Ministerial Declaration on Trade. A reduction in the amount of cultivated land leads to decreased self-sufficiency and thus to increased dependence on other actors in the food system. In this way, agricultural land is a vital resource for national food sovereignty. Increased self-sufficiency decreases the vulnerability to fluctuations in food prices. Norway has a particular challenge in the availability and management of farmland, with cultivated land constituting only 3 percent of the total area of the nation, which is also a low proportion per capita. The farmland is located in the vicinity of the nation’s largest cities, and it is thus currently under pressure from developments.
