Does the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition impose biotechnology on smallholder farmers in Africa?

Abstract

Almost one in three people who live in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are hungry, higher than anywhere else. This magnitude of food insecurity coupled with slow progress in regional integration, disease and epidemics, poor access to markets, gender disparities, lack of land tenure rights, and governance and institutional shortcomings on the continent have been used to justify a narrative for the inclusion of biotechnology in smallholder agriculture in SSA. The fact, however, suggests that even in the face of these challenges, smallholder farmers in SSA still produce 70% of the food on the continent. We critically examine the introduction of biotechnology in smallholder farming within the context of the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition and public-private partnerships in SSA. We explicitly address the bioethical concerns and implications for technology adoption goals in line with a neoliberal economic model that is encouraging smallholder farmers to adopt biotechnology as a way to secure more food for communities. This paper is not meant to pose a simplistic pro or anti stance on genetically modified (GM) crops or biotechnology, but rather to situate the debate about GM technology within issues of power, control in the global food agriculture systems, and point to the bioethical concerns that affect the lives of smallholder farmers and their families on a daily basis.

Debated agronomy: public discourse and the future of biotechnology policy in Ghana

“…Apart from the usual concerns about the environment, health and economic implication of GMOs, the debate in Ghana assumed a political dimension, where the anti-GMO coalitions refused to resist “local GMOs” but are vigorously fighting to stop the introduction of “international GMOs”. The main argument being that international GMOs are political tools designed to control the sovereignty of African countries (Vercillo et al, 2015). The discussion section puts these complex dimensions into the science-politics policy-making perspective within the unique context of Ghana to provide an understanding of how place-based factors and processes influence policy-making.…”

“…This emanated from the fear of losing control over their livelihoods, indigenous seeds and worsening biodiversity (Vercillo, Kuuire, Armah, & Luginaah, 2015). This paper analyses Bt policy claims and debates within Ghana’s Plant Breeders Bill to demonstrate how the acceptance or rejection of agricultural technology is influenced by health, scientific, economic, environmental and political interests.…”

Cattle as technological interventions: The gender effects of water demand in dairy production in Uganda

“…In contrast, we argue that the extent to which technologies such as crossbreed dairy cows benefit smallholders, especially women, depends on the relationship between these technologies and the social, environmental, economic, and institutional factors such as local agro-ecologies, production systems, the availability of markets for credit, and the governance and policy frameworks, in which they are embedded (Vercillo et al 2015; also see Yamaguchi 2016;Jiang 2017). Crossbreed dairy cows demand new types of labor and social relations especially regarding the demand for more water.…”

Efficacy of farmer field schools in achieving participatory technology development among smallholder farmers in the Hoima district, Uganda

“…They have had a very narrow role in agricultural efficiency and returns of smallholder agriculturalists to alleviate concerns of food uncertainty (Adong, 2014). These technologies are many as they embrace machinery, modern varieties of planting materials, use of enrichers and insecticides, modern organisational practices, as well as the use of computers (Vercillo et al, 2015). Nevertheless, the feeble institutional structure coupled with meagre advertising structure and inadequate access to resources, the espousal of expertise dubbed green revolution remains narrow.…”