The significance of protecting domestic native corn from genetically modified seeds: a perspective from local Mexican NGOs

Abstract

During the last decades, there has been an ongoing global discussion about the use of genetically modified organisms (GMO) and their insertion in geographic regions where there is a vast pool of native landraces such as Mexican corn, Indian rice, Peruvian potato. This discussion takes place between those who defend native landraces along with traditional farming knowledge (TK) and those who defend genetic engineering products (GMO), turning the discussion into a running social confrontation between large corporations and domestic NGO’s network. Both sides are accompanied by leading scientific communities. Based on the Political Economy perspective of K. Polanyi and his analytical categories, this paper examines the case of the Mexican GMO controversy between predominantly US agroindustry and Mexican NGOs. It shows the performance of NGO’s in trying to avoid the insertion of GM corn in Mexico through a legal injunction that is banning the commercialization of this GM corn in the whole territory.