Abstract: According to Auturo Escobar, development and capitalism have become the most significant ideas to shape social life and these ideas are directly related to the multiple crises our planet faces. Post-development theories offer alternative narratives to the traditional development notions of universal knowledge and progress. Yet, the mainstream development discourse remains and challenges to this need to be further explored. In South Africa the extreme racial inequality of the Apartheid system has largely remained, despite transitioning to democracy, due to the adoption of neoliberal policies. In the agricultural sector this has left the unequal distribution of land unchallenged and much of the rural poor food insecure. Agroecology is argued to be a practical and discursive alternative to neoliberal agriculture. Using a critical discourse analysis this paper will investigate the territories that are produced through the interaction of competing ideas and practices and ask to what extent these challenge mainstream development.
keywords: agroecology, post-development, urban agriculture, Cape Town, BRICS
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