Agricultural Biotechnology Reconsidered: Western Narratives and African Alternatives

Agricultural Biotechnology Reconsidered: Western Narratives and African Alternatives

In 2002, when the NGOs raised such a fuss about the dangers of biotech food for famine relief in Africa, they totally ignored a U.N. Economic Commission for Africa report, "Harnessing Technology for Sustainable Development in Africa" (August 2002), which was almost entirely about the poten...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:African Studies Review 2006, Vol.49 (3), p.73-75
Main Author: DeGregori, Thomas R.
Format: Review
Language:eng
Subjects:
Africa
Africa, Southern
African studies
Agricultural biotechnology
Agricultural biotechnology $zAfrica, Southern
Agriculture
Biotechnology
Economics & Development
Genetic engineering
Molecular biology
Science
Sustainable development
Technological change
Zerbe, Zerbe, Noah., Noah
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Summary:In 2002, when the NGOs raised such a fuss about the dangers of biotech food for famine relief in Africa, they totally ignored a U.N. Economic Commission for Africa report, "Harnessing Technology for Sustainable Development in Africa" (August 2002), which was almost entirely about the potential for biotechnology in agriculture ("green biotechnology") and in pharmaceuticals ("red biotechnology"). Zerbe's insistence that GM crops are not suited to the needs of small third-world farmers is contradicted by the fact that the fastest current growth in GM crop plantings is with smallholders in developing countries (though planting by acreage or hectare is still greater in developed countries) and this group constitutes the largest number of farmers planting transgenic crops (19).
ISSN:0002-0206
1555-2462