Generic, growing, green?: The changing political economy of the global pesticide complex

Abstract

ABSTRACT Agriculture is now more dependent on pesticides than ever. The value of global pesticide imports increased 3x faster in the 2000s than in the 1990s. Structural transformations in the industry – including reduced innovation, increased regulatory costs, consolidation, and a dramatic shift to generic pesticides largely produced in China – have shifted prices, supply chains and formulations. The ‘supermarket revolution’, migration, and rising labor costs are driving an increase in demand. The result is a pesticide complex that is multipolar, where commodity chains and environmental impacts are less legible, requiring a hard look at the chemical nature of agrarian capitalism.