Citizen rights, participation and democratisation in biotechnology governance
In order for agricultural biotechnology to deliver broad developmental benefits, through helping poor farmers and consumers to improve their livelihoods, greater democracy, responsiveness and accountability are likely to be necessary in the way the technology is governed. This will require new approaches to the scientific as well as legal and governance processes.
Many critics of biotechnology argue for a rights-based or ‘food sovereignty’ approach, which would require an expansion of approaches to policy and regulation. Others advocate the use of various innovative techniques for involving citizens in policy-making, such as citizen's juries, which may play a role in giving voice to marginalised groups. Important to this will be recognising the right of poor people to support certain GM options, selectively, or to reject altogether a role for biotechnology in agriculture.
A key lesson from the fierce controversy over GM crops is that citizens will demand to be heard in debates about the ways in which food and feed are produced and consumed. In India, for instance, farmers ‘voted with their feet’ by adopting GM insect-resistant cotton varieties before they had even been authorised by the government for commercial release (see GM in India: the battle over Bt cotton. The materials listed below shed light on the ways in which this demand to voice concerns about biotechnology implies a fundamental rethinking of approaches to technology governance.
- Food sovereignty comes of age: Africa leads efforts to rethink our food system
- ( P. Mulvany / UK Food Group , 2007)
- The article focuses on the debates and discussions that took place at the Nyéléni 2007 Forum for Food Sovereignty, which was held in Mali, representing organisations across various secto...
- The GM debate – who decides?: an analysis of decision-making about genetically modified crops in developing countries
- ( E. Masood / Panos Institute, London , 2005)
- GM (genetically modified) crops are rapidly gaining ground in developing countries, even though their adoption is highly controversial. This report explores how decisions are made about GM food crops ...
- Summary document of the FAO e-mail conference: public participation in decision-making regarding GMOs in developing countries: how to effectively involve rural people
- ( Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations , 2005)
- Although the production and consumption of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) could impact on socio-cultural systems of rural populations in developing countries, rural people are usually far remov...
- GMO governance in Africa
- ( S. Ayele / The Centre for Innovation, Knowledge and Development, The Open University , 2006)
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This paper examines issues of legitimation and harmonisation of biosafety systems in GMO governance in Africa. It draws on case studies from emerging regulatory...
- Governing agricultural biotechnology in Africa: building public confidence and capacity for policy-making
- ( N. Clark;J. Mugabe;J. Smith / African Centre for Technology Studies , 2008)
- This book provides an overview of the potential benefits of agricultural biotechnology in Africa in the context of continuous poor agricultural production and rising food insecurity. The authors draw ...
