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by Jacqueline A. Ignatova (Author)
Genetically modified crops have become a key element of development
strategies across the Global South, despite remaining deeply controversial. Proponents hail them as an example of 'pro-poor' innovation, while critics regard them as a threat to food sovereignty and the environment. The promotion
of biotechnology is an integral part of 'new Green Revolution for Africa' interventions and is also intimately linked to the rise of 'philanthrocapitalism, ' which advances business solutions to address the problem of poverty.
Through interviews with farmers, policymakers and agricultural scientists, Jacqueline Ignatova shows how efforts to transform the seed sector in northern Ghana - one of the key laboratories of this 'new Green Revolution' - may serve to exacerbate the inequality it was notionally intended to address. But she also argues that its effects in Ghana have been far more complex than either side of the debate has acknowledged, with local farmers proving adept at blending traditional and modern agricultural methods that subvert the interests of global agribusiness
Author Biography
Jacqueline A. Ignatova is an Assistant Professor of Sustainable Development at Appalachian State University in North Carolina, USA. She is vice chair of the board of F.A.R.M. (Feed All Regardless of Means) Cafe and a co-founder of the Watauga Seed Library in Boone, North Carolina. Her work has been featured in Third World Quarterly and African and Black Diaspora: An International Journal.
