Agricultural Biotechnology in Africa - Matthew A. Schnurr

Addison & Schnurr. (2016). Introduction to symposium on labor, gender and new sources of agrarian change. Agriculture and Human Values, 33(4), 961-965

In this symposium introduction, we review how scholarship in agrarian political economy has engaged with agrarian change through links to labor, land use and gender relations. We argue that the integration of labor and gender offers a particularly insightful framework for not only assessing contemporary patterns of agrarian change, but also for critically engaging with …

Addison & Schnurr. (2016). Growing burdens: Disease-resistant Genetically Modified Banana and the gendered implications for labour in Uganda. Agriculture and Human Values, 33(4), 967-978

This article explores the research we conducted in Uganda regarding the introduction of genetically modified varieties of Matooke, a traditional cooking banana that is the country’s primary carbohydrate. Full-text (protected)

Dowd-Uribe & Schnurr. (2016). Burkina Faso’ reversal on Genetically Modified crops and the implications for Africa. African Affairs, 115(458), 161-172

This article enters the politicized and polarized GM debate by discussing Bt cotton in South Africa and Burkina Faso. We argue that the phase-out of Burkina Faso, one of the most prominent and vocal supporters of GM crops on the African continent, could have significant implications for commercial production and dissemination of GM crops in …

Schnurr. (2015). GMO 2.0: Genetically Modified crops and the push towards Africa’s Green Revolution. Canadian Food Studies, 2(2), 201-208

This article grapples with the debate over the potential for second-generation GM crops – GMO 2.0 – and raises important questions about reception by end-users, scale, implications of breeding technologies, and donor impact. I argue that researchers and policy-makers need to move beyond the bifurcated debate to consider GM crops in specific ecological, economic and …

Schnurr, Mujabi-Mujuzi, Miiro, & Addison. (2015). Can Genetically Modified crops help African farmers? Insights from Uganda. In: Analyses: Africa’s Future… Can biosciences contribute? Cambridge: Lavenham Press, 28-36.

This collaborative project uses diagnostic research to investigate farmer attitudes and intentions to adopt GM matooke banana and assess whether this technology benefits farmer yields and livelihoods. We counter the common assumption that a single technology can succeed in different settings across the continent of Africa. Instead, the potential impact of GM technologies must be …