Abstract
When I arrived at the International Potato Center (CIP) in Lima, Peru, ten years ago, I became one of three anthropologists working at that time in the Consultative Groups for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) is made up of 13 international research centers dedicated to the improvement of agricultural research in developing nations. Their mandates range from improving crop production, seeking alternatives to swidden agriculture, overcoming animal diseases in Africa to international food policy. The CGIAR in 1979 employed some 700 researchers, mainly biological scientists who were directly or indirectly linked to plant breeding programs. While the CGIAR was at that time enjoying tremendous prestige from the successes of the "Green Revolution" (for which one wheat breeder, Dr. Norman Borlaug was awarded the Nobel Peace prize) my academic anthropology training had taught me to be skeptical and harshly critical of agricultural scientists. It was, therefore, with some trepidation that I took up at CIP a two-year, post-doctoral post funded by the Rockefeller Foundation. The other anthropologists employed within the CGIAR had come to their respective centers under the same Rockefeller program.
Published Version
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call