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Moderated conference on GMOs in the pipeline, hosted by the FAO Biotechnology Forum in 2012

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Date: Wed, 28 Nov 2012 14:40:24 +0100
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This is the third message from Dominic Glover of Wageningen University.

I'd like to thank participants who have provided information about transgenic crops in the pipeline in various developing countries (e.g. messages 21, 34, 38, 49, 62, 63, 68). I don't know if any of these messages were responses to my appeal for more discussion of transgenic subsistence crop technologies relevant to the needs of poor and marginal farmers (message 22), but I note that (only) a few of the examples mentioned fit the kinds of criteria I mentioned in my message.

Several of the messages in the conference have mentioned the role that the private sector is playing in development of new GMOs that may be commercialized in developing countries within the next 5 years (e.g. messages 24, 25, 56). My PhD research was about a fascinating programme run by Monsanto, called the Monsanto Smallholder Programme (MSP). The MSP was remarkable for combining corporate social responsibility rhetoric and philanthropic aspirations with a market expansion strategy, essentially through the trial and refinement of novel marketing strategies designed to reach smallholder farmers with modern agricultural technologies.

One of the reasons I took up my study in the first place was that I felt Monsanto's expansion into agricultural input markets in the 'global South' ought to open up a space for the company to orient its technological research and development (R&D) strategies around the needs and priorities of poor and marginal farmers, in addition to the large-scale, industrialised farmers the company was accustomed to dealing with in areas like North and South America.

Some aspects of the MSP project I studied in Andhra Pradesh, India, were quite innovative in marketing terms, and warmly appreciated by the farmers I interviewed. However, I was disappointed to find that the MSP had created no mechanism for consulting the farmers, listening to their needs and priorities, working with them to set research agendas, or seeking their feedback on the performance and utility of the technologies Monsanto was promoting.

As a result, the technologies Monsanto wanted to promote in India were essentially similar to the ones the company promotes in industrialised farming systems. The marketing strategy was different, but an opportunity had been missed, to create a mechanism for the development of new technologies and crop varieties specifically for poor and marginal farmers. At that time (around 2007), there was no sign that Monsanto's experiences with the MSP had led the company to adjust its R&D pipeline in order to deliver technologies matching the kinds of criteria I mentioned in message 22 (Glover, 2007a, b, c).

I would like to ask participants in this conference whether there are more grounds for optimism as we look ahead from 2012. Can they point to examples from the commercial sector involving the development of subsistence crops with transgenic traits that make them suitable for poor soils, low-input conditions, with a low risk profile, that can be made available at low cost and that are likely to be commercialised in the next 5 years? Is it misguided to expect commercial entities to serve such markets, in spite of the profit potential at the 'bottom of the pyramid'? Must we rely on philanthropic funding, public-private partnerships and government aid programmes for the development of these types of technologies?

I look forward to your responses.

Dominic Glover 
Post-doctoral Fellow 
Technology and Agrarian Development Group 
Wageningen University
The Netherlands
Tel: +31 (0)317 48 40 18 
Email: dominic.glover (at) wur.nl 
Skype: domglov
Personal website: http://www.tad.wur.nl/UK/People/Fellows/Dominic+Glover/ 
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/dominicglover 

References:
Glover, D., 2007a. Monsanto and smallholder farmers: a case study in corporate social responsibility. Third World Quarterly 28 (4), 851-867.

Glover, D., 2007b. Farmer participation in private sector agricultural extension. IDS Bulletin 38 (5), 61-73.

Glover, D., 2007c. The role of the private sector in modern biotechnology and rural development: The case of the Monsanto Smallholder Programme, PhD thesis, Institute of Development Studies. University of Sussex, Brighton, UK. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2037802

[To contribute to this conference, send your message to [log in to unmask] For further information on this FAO Biotechnology Forum, see http://www.fao.org/biotech/biotech-forum/]

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