Abstract
Genetically modified (GM) crops have generated a great deal of controversy. Since commercially introduced to farmers in 1996, the global area cultivated with GM crops has increased 94-fold. The rapid adoption of GM technology has had substantial socio-economic impacts which a vast amount of technical and non-technical literature has addressed in the last two decades. However, contradictory results between individual studies abound. Extensive and transparent reviews concerning this contentious and complex issue could help promote evidence-based dialogue among the diverse parties involved. This protocol specifies the methodology for identifying, evaluating, and mapping evidence related to the main review question: what are the socio-economic impacts of genetically modified crops worldwide? This question has been subdivided into the following topics: (a) farm-level impacts; (b) impacts of coexistence regulations; (c) impacts along the supply chain; (d) consumer-level impacts; (e) impacts on food security; and (f) environmental economic impacts. The search strategy includes the identification of primary studies from general scientific databases; global, regional, and national specialist databases; an on-line search engine; institutional websites; journal websites; subject experts/researchers; and serendipity. Searches will be conducted in six languages (Chinese, English, French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish). Identified studies will be screened for inclusion/exclusion criteria by a group of multi-language reviewers. Finally, pre-defined data from the studies will be extracted, mapped, and presented in a report. Potential research gaps will be identified and discussed, and the review process will be documented in an open-access database (i.e. CADIMA, http://www.cadima.info/ ).
Highlights
OF GMOs UNDER DIFFERENT REGULATORY FRAMEWORKSMandatory and voluntary labeling, and different tolerance level (% of Genetically modified (GM) ingredients) in final productMoratorium or ban on GM cropsSocio economic and other determinants of the decision/intention to buy GM productsPrice premiums paid by consumers for non GM or GM productsOption values of consumersChanges in economic welfareChanges in health economics aspects Changes in social aspectsChanges in ethical and cultural aspects stress, or cause an undesired gene flow.Changes in the type or quantity of herbicide/insecticide could create or alter herbicide resistance in weeds or pesticide resistance in pests
The study by Brookes & Barfoot [40] suggest that “since 1996 the use of pesticides on the GM crop area was reduced by 448 million kg (9% reduction), and the environmental impact quotient — an indicator measuring the environmental impact associated with herbicide and insecticide use on these crops — fell by 17.9%
Changes on the distribution of costs and benefits along the supply chain Changes in market power of different actors in the supply chain in the future [42]. For those opposed to GM technology, GM crops are exotic species being introduced into open complex ecosystems of which we have limited understanding [43], and as such it is impossible to anticipate all impacts of GM technology on the environment
Summary
Search strategy Systematic maps require an objective and reproducible search of a range of sources to identify as many relevant studies as possible (within resource and time limits). Searches in Google Scholar, BASE, and Agricola will be conducted in “title” due to the large number of references obtainable; b) searches will be limited to the time period from 1996 (the year GM crops were commercially introduced to farmers) to present; c) searches will be filtered by type of document (article, chapter, book, thesis, manuscript, and conference paper) and socio-economic subjects or disciplines (if the database provides these facilities); d) searches will be conducted using only the intervention terms in socio-economic related databases (IDEAS/REPEC, British Library for Development, IFPRI, JOLIS, and OECD iLibrary) and in databases providing socio-economic filters (Web of Science, Scopus, ELDIS, Agricola, BASE, and Open Grey). The final outcomes of this protocol will be a systematic map report on the socio-economic impacts of GM crops worldwide based on the evidence available in six languages, and a searchable database (including the list of references of the included studies, along with the information extracted from those studies; the list of excluded studies and reasons for exclusion; and the list of potentially relevant studies with full text not available).
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