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Agricultural Biodiversity: African alternatives to a ‘green revolution’

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Abstract

Although the global agricultural crises affect the African continent most adversely, African farmers and scientists offer successful alternatives to industrial monoculture. Andrew Mushita and Carol Thompson argue that while the ‘green revolution for Africa’ promotes private foreign ownership of genetically modified seeds and focuses on increased yields of a few crops, African alternatives honour farmers' rights and agricultural biodiversity, through innovative legislation and protocols, in order to increase sustainable food production.

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Notes

  1. The ‘Berg Report’ (World Bank, 1981) called for the removal of ‘inefficient’ government interventions in agriculture, from grain marketing boards, to research stations, to rural credit schemes and agricultural extension workers. Over the next two decades, this policy was systematically implemented across the continent.

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Authors
  1. Andrew Mushita
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  2. Carol Thompson
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Proposes African alternatives that honour farmers' rights and agricultural biodiversity will increase sustainable food production

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Mushita, A., Thompson, C. Agricultural Biodiversity: African alternatives to a ‘green revolution’. Development 51, 488–495 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1057/dev.2008.54

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/dev.2008.54

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