New Crop Varieties in a Green Revolution for Africa 1

Abstract

This chapter analyzes the assumptions on which proposals for a green revolution are based in order to help encourage more open discussion of alternatives for agricultural development in Africa. The green revolution began after World War II in Mexico and the Philippines as the large-scale application of industrial agriculture from the First World to the Third World. Adapting the green revolution in Africa is part of a broader response of the international development establishment to experiences with the green revolution in Asia and other areas of the world. The assumptions preclude consideration of the possibility that the cause of Africa’s food crisis lies primarily in the disruption of African agriculture and society under colonialism, the imposition of inappropriate production models, and the dependence of African economic development on the Western economic system. Relatively few varieties of each green revolution crop are bred and released, with each variety developed for production over much wider areas than landraces.