Biotechnology and governance
There has been a recent surge of attention – and funding – to stimulate new scientific and technological solutions to the challenges facing smallholder agriculture, especially in Africa. Poorer farmers and consumers stand to be strongly affected – positively or negatively – by such advances. This key issues guide reviews these issues and recommends further reading.
- How are decisions about adoption of GM crops made in developing countries?
- This report explores how decisions are made about GM food crops in five developing countries - Brazil, India, Kenya, Thailand and Zambia. It finds that opinions on GM, and the framework for decision-making, varies considerably between countries, according to specific political, economic, agricultural and environmental contexts. Despite these differences, the report draws some broad conclusions about how governments in developing countries make decisions, and who has access to decision-makers.
GM crops and climate change
In recent years, debates about GM technology agriculture have increasingly intersected with debates about how human beings can mitigate the effects of climate change, or adapt to its consequences. Supporters of GM crops argue that they will enable farmers to grow food and feed with less energy and fewer chemicals and fertilisers, while maintaining the soil as a carbon sink. Transgenic crops with traits like drought-tolerance may also help farmers to grow crops in a hotter, drier climate. Or GM crops could be developed that would be more valuable as biofuels, as an alternative to fossil fuels. More...
Developing countries’ experiences with GM crops
Are GM crops good for poor farmers, or bad? It is a question that continues to provoke fierce controversy. After several years in which smallholders have been growing the crops, however, there is a growing body of experience to help give us an answer. But the evidence we have is mixed. Some econometric analyses appear to present an encouraging picture, in which small as well as large farmers are benefiting from GM crops. But the experiences of dissatisfied farmers, NGOs and independent observers in India, together with other studies from China and South Africa, present a different view. More...
GM crops and food security
Some people claim transgenic crops can feed the world. Whether they can or not will depend heavily on the types of GM crops and traits that are developed and whether they are accessible to poor farmers and consumers in developing countries. In turn, these issues will depend on the respective roles and activities of the public and private sectors, mediated by the regulations that govern intellectual property rights and the transfer of technologies. More...
The influence of trade, regulation and approaches to science policy
There has been a concerted attempt to encourage and facilitate the production and international trade in GM crops and foods, through the promotion of a standardised, science-based approach to governing modern agricultural biotechnology. This one-size-fits-all approach threatens to undermine the capability of poorer countries to devise regulatory systems that support their own developmental needs and priorities. But there is scope for Southern countries to tailor their governance frameworks to their own circumstances, as has happened in countries such as India. More...
Developing appropriate technology: Africa and China
If agricultural biotechnology is not intrinsically ‘pro-poor’ or ‘pro-development’, can it be made so? A range of new initiatives has been launched, with the aim of promoting a technological revolution – to include biotechnology in African agriculture. These initiatives have been criticised, sparking an intense debate about the best way to address the problems faced by African farmers. Meanwhile China is seen by some analysts as representing a strikingly independent approach to biotechnology and agricultural development. More...
Citizen rights, participation and democratisation in biotechnology governance
Democratising biotechnology governance - so as to make it more responsive and accountable to the needs and priorities of poor farmers and consumers in developing countries, especially marginalised people -will require new approaches to policy and decision-making. But, as the last few years of experience with GM crop governance have shown, stakeholders will insist on making their voices heard. More...
