Abstract
The process of local and regional integration into global markets was intensified during a time known as the “first green revolution”, characterized by a technical package of bioengineered hybrid seeds requiring chemical and mechanical inputs, designed to improve agricultural productivity in basic grains such as wheat, maize and rice. Gradually, the green revolution technology was extended from basic to luxury foods, known as “high-value foods” (HVFs). This extension has been called the “second green revolution” (McMichael, 2008). Like the green revolution of the 1960s, the global aquaculture sector embraced a similar shift, known as the “blue revolution”. It aimed at increasing global aquatic production in order to stave off widespread hunger in the tropical nations. By 1985, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and a variety of other international aid agencies were pouring $200 million a year into aquaculture projects. Mangrove forests in the Philippines, Thailand, Bangladesh and Ecuador were chopped down to make way for shrimp ponds. Carp and tilapia farms were staked out on the flood plains of the Ganges, the Irrawaddy and the Mekong rivers. As a result, the production of pond-raised fish has boomed. While the blue revolution was driven and accelerated by neoliberalism to quench the appetite of wealthy consumers in the North, it came with a price.
Published Version
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