Engineering yields and inequality? How institutions and agro-ecology shape Bt cotton outcomes in Burkina Faso

Abstract

The research presented in this paper assesses how four social and agro-ecological factors – credit, governance, seed price and pest dynamics – mediate Bt cotton outcomes for producers in Burkina Faso. It finds that the cotton sector’s integrated credit provisioning scheme provides a mechanism for all socio-economic groups to adopt Bt cotton. High seed prices, however, are likely to dissuade resource-poor farmers from Bt cotton adoption, despite the presence of secure credit institutions. Governance issues, including corruption and late payments, demand greater attention since they are driving large numbers of producers to abandon all forms of cotton production. Bt cotton will control target pests, but secondary pests are likely to emerge shortening the benefits of the technology. These findings suggest that many issues with Bt cotton adoption in Burkina Faso lie in the social and agro-ecological context of adoption, which traditionally is not examined in farm-gate analyses of transgenic crop outcomes. An examination of relevant social and agro-ecological factors improves assessments of the likely outcomes of transgenic crops for producers, and allows for greater understanding of their differential impacts.