Genetically modified crops and sustainable poverty alleviation in Sub Saharan Africa: an assessment of current evidence
2003
A. de Grassi
This paper recasts the debate over biotechnology by empirically evaluating current experiences with genetically modified crops in Africa. The debate is moved from hypothetical risks, to actual results. The ‘appropriateness’ of GM cotton, sweet potatoes, and maize is evaluated using six criteria widely accepted in crop breeding, namely, demand led, site specific, poverty focused, cost effective, and institutionally and environmentally sustainable.The findings reveal that: virus-resistant sweet potatoes are not demand driven, site specific, poverty focused, cost effective, or institutionally sustainable. The environmental sustainability of modified sweet potatoes is ambiguous, but not great. Bt cotton scores low on criteria of demand drive, site specificity, and institutional sustainability. It has ambiguous poverty focus and cost effectiveness. Environmental sustainability is currently moderate, but could potentially be moderate to strong. For Bt maize, the analysis shows low demand drive, cost-effectiveness, and institutional sustainability. It is too early too detect unambiguous site specificity or poverty focus. Environmental sustainability is currently low to moderate, but could potentially be raised.The author concludes by examining potential reasons for the attention being given to these three crops despite their generally inappropriate nature for poverty alleviation in sub-Saharan Africa [author's abstract]
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