The Politics Of Genetically Modified Agriculture In Africa

The issue of genetically modified (GM) agriculture and its relevance to developing countries is one that is fiercely contested. The debates surrounding the adoption of GM technology by developing countries are multifaceted and complex. The Politics of Genetically Modified Agriculture in Africa investigates claims regarding the use of GM crops to benefit the poor in Africa. The validity of claims for 'pro-poor' GM agriculture are analysed through a critique of the science model employed by scientists, policy-makers and some non-governmental organisations. This investigation is underpinned by further exploration of the conceptualisation of 'poor', the governance of GM and the engagement of a wide range of stakeholders. In regards to policy implementation, the book concludes that claims for 'pro-poor' GM agriculture cannot be substantiated, and are inadequate as a justification for policies to promote the adoption of this technology. The Politics of Genetically Modified Agriculture in Africa will be of interest to students and scholars of environmental politics, where the development of the GM food debate continues to cause political debate and contestation. It will also be of interest to those in the fields of African Studies and Politics.

The issue of genetically modified (GM) agriculture and its relevance to developing countries is one that is fiercely contested. The debates surrounding the adoption of GM technology by developing countries are multifaceted and complex. The Politics of Genetically Modified Agriculture in Africa investigates claims regarding the use of GM crops to benefit the poor in Africa. The validity of claims for 'pro-poor' GM agriculture are analysed through a critique of the science model employed by scientists, policy-makers and some non-governmental organisations. This investigation is underpinned by further exploration of the conceptualisation of 'poor', the governance of GM and the engagement of a wide range of stakeholders. In regards to policy implementation, the book concludes that claims for 'pro-poor' GM agriculture cannot be substantiated, and are inadequate as a justification for policies to promote the adoption of this technology. The Politics of Genetically Modified Agriculture in Africa will be of interest to students and scholars of environmental politics, where the development of the GM food debate continues to cause political debate and contestation. It will also be of interest to those in the fields of African Studies and Politics.

As development donors invest hundreds of millions of dollars into improved crops designed to alleviate poverty and hunger, Africa has emerged as the final frontier in the global debate over agricultural biotechnology. The first data-driven assessment of the ecological, social, and political factors that shape our understanding of genetic modification, Africa's Gene Revolution surveys twenty years of efforts to use genomics-based breeding to enhance yields and livelihoods for African farmers. Matthew Schnurr considers the full range of biotechnologies currently in commercial use and those in development - including hybrids, marker-assisted breeding, tissue culture, and genetic engineering. Drawing on interviews with biotechnology experts alongside research conducted with more than two hundred farmers across eastern, western, and southern Africa, Schnurr reveals a profound incongruity between the optimistic rhetoric that accompanies genetic modification technology and the realities of the smallholder farmers who are its intended beneficiaries. Through the lens of political ecology, this book demonstrates that the current emphasis on improved seeds discounts the geographic, social, ecological, and economic contexts in which the producers of these crops operate. Bringing the voices of farmers to the foreground of this polarizing debate, Africa's Gene Revolution contends that meaningful change will come from a reconfiguration not only of the plant's genome, but of the entire agricultural system.

A variable climate, political instability, and other constraints have limited agricultural development in African countries south of the Sahara. Genetically modified (GM) crops are one tool for enhancing agricultural productivity and food security despite such constraints. Genetically Modified Crops in Africa: Economic and Policy Lessons from Countries South of the Sahara investigates how this tool might be effectively used by evaluating the benefits, costs, and risks for African countries of adopting GM crops. The authors gather together studies on GM crops’ economic effects and impact on trade, how consumers view such crops, and other issues. They find that GM crops have had, on average, a positive economic effect in the nations where they were used and identify future steps for enhancing GM crop adoption’s positive effects. Promising policy initiatives include making biosafety regulations that do not make GM crop development prohibitively expensive, fostering intraregional trade in GM crops, and providing more and better information about GM crops to consumers who might currently be skeptical of them. These and other findings in Genetically Modified Crops in Africa indicate ways biotechnology can contribute to economic development in Africa south of the Sahara.

Biotechnology.

Attitudes to GM crops continue to generate tension, even though they have been grown commercially for over 20 years. Negative sentiment towards their development limits their adoption in Western countries, despite there being no evidence of harm to human health. These unfounded concerns about genetically modified crops have also inhibited uptake in many countries throughout Africa and Asia, having a major impact on agricultural productivity and preventing the widespread cultivation of potentially life-saving crops. GM Crops and the Global Divide traces the historical importance that European attitudes to past colonial influences, aid, trade and educational involvement have had on African leaders and their people. The detrimental impact that these attitudes have on agricultural productivity and food security continues to be of growing importance, especially in light of climate change, drought and the potential rise in sea levels – the effects of which could be mitigated by the cultivation of GM and gene-edited crops. Following on from her previous books Genes for Africa, GM Crops: The Impact and the Potential and Food for Africa, Jennifer Thomson unravels the reasons behind these negative attitudes towards GM crop production. By addressing the detrimental effects that anti-GM opinions have on nutrition security in developing countries and providing a clear account of the science to counter these attitudes, she hopes to highlight and ultimately bridge this global divide.

Despite sustained continental and national struggles for autonomy, sovereignty and independence in postcolonial Africa, the continent is increasingly embattled by the forces of globalisation which threaten African identity that is at the core of African struggles for continental and national unity. Situating the debates in the contemporary discourses on decoloniality, global consumerism, global food apartheid and the challenges and prospects of the emergent sharing economies, this book critically examines the importation, use and implications of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and other such non-food products on African bodies, institutions and cultures. The book poses questions about how Africa can be decolonised both politically and in terms of global food apartheid and the dehumanising importation and use of foreign non-food products, some of which militate against the ethos of [African] identity, Renaissance and indigeneity. On note, the book urges the African continent to ensure the safety of imports ensuing from the global flows and circulations that are mired in the resilient invisible global matrices of power.

This book brings together experts from within and outside Africa to discuss the current status of biotechnology in southern Africa, the conceptual framework for multistakeholder dialogues, the political and ethical issues surrounding biotechnology, food safety and consumer issues, biosafety, intellectual property rights, and trade involving genetically modified foods.