GRAB - GMO 2.0: Genetically modified crops and the push for Africa’s green revolution

Abstract

Genetically modified (GM) crops are plants in which the DNA has been engineered using laboratory techniques to express a beneficial trait. Their reception across the globe has been mixed: they form a dominant part of North American agriculture, they have been met with widespread disapproval in Europe, and they are of increasing importance in emerging economies such as India, China and Brazil. Approximately 9 percent of agricultural land worldwide was planted under GM crops in 2014. This figure expanded at a rate of 6 million hectares over the previous year, driven largely by growth in the Global South. Developing countries now account for more than 50 percent of the total acreage planted worldwide, and more than 90 percent of the 18 million farmers cultivating them (James, 2014).