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Can the Poor Help GM Crops? Technology, representation & cotton in the Makhathini flats, South Africa

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  • Harald Witt
  • Rajeev Patel
  • Matthew Schnurr

Abstract

The adoption of Genetically Modified (GM) cotton in South Africa's Makhathini Flats in 1998 was heralded as a case in which agricultural biotechnology could benefit smallholder farmers, and a model for the rest of the continent to follow. Using historical, political economic and ethnographic data, we find the initial enthusiasm around GM technology to be misguided. We argue that Makhathini's structured institutional framework privileges adopters of GM technologies through access to credit and markets. The adoption of GM cotton is symptomatic not of farmers’ endorsement of GM technology, but a sign of the profound lack of choice facing them in the region.

Suggested Citation

  • Harald Witt & Rajeev Patel & Matthew Schnurr, 2006. "Can the Poor Help GM Crops? Technology, representation & cotton in the Makhathini flats, South Africa," Review of African Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(109), pages 497-513, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:revape:v:33:y:2006:i:109:p:497-513
    DOI: 10.1080/03056240601000945
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Hofs, J.L. & Kirsten, Johann F., 2001. "Genetically Modified Cotton In South Africa: The Solution For Rural Development?," Working Papers 18045, University of Pretoria, Department of Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development.
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    Cited by:

    1. Massa, Isabella, 2015. "Technological change in developing countries: Trade-offs between economic, social, and environmental sustainability," MERIT Working Papers 2015-051, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    2. Michel Fok & Naiyin Xu, 2010. "Le marché des variétés de coton-Bt : analyse de la situation en Chine dans une perspective internationale," Post-Print halshs-00455263, HAL.
    3. Klara Fischer & Elisabeth Ekener-Petersen & Lotta Rydhmer & Karin Edvardsson Björnberg, 2015. "Social Impacts of GM Crops in Agriculture: A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(7), pages 1-23, July.
    4. Raney, Terri & Matuschke, Ira, 2010. "Genetically Modified Crops In Developing Countries: Back To The Future," 14th ICABR Conference, June 16-18, 2010, Ravello, Italy 188106, International Consortium on Applied Bioeconomy Research (ICABR).
    5. Hull, Elizabeth, 2014. "The Social Dynamics of Labor Shortage in South African Small-Scale Agriculture," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 451-460.
    6. Soleri, Daniela & Cleveland, David A. & Glasgow, Garrett & Sweeney, Stuart H. & Cuevas, Flavio Aragón & Fuentes, Mario R. & Ríos L., Humberto, 2008. "Testing assumptions underlying economic research on transgenic food crops for Third World farmers: Evidence from Cuba, Guatemala and Mexico," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(4), pages 667-682, November.
    7. Glenn Davis Stone & Dominic Glover, 2017. "Disembedding grain: Golden Rice, the Green Revolution, and heirloom seeds in the Philippines," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 34(1), pages 87-102, March.
    8. Klara Fischer & Camilla Eriksson, 2016. "Social Science Studies on European and African Agriculture Compared: Bringing Together Different Strands of Academic Debate on GM Crops," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(9), pages 1-17, August.

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