1 Inventing Makhathini: Creating a prototype for the dissemination of Genetically Modified crops into Africa Matthew A. Schnurr Assistant Professor International Development Studies Dalhousie University Henry Hicks Administration Building, Room 337B Halifax, NS B3H 4R2
[email protected] Accepted to Geoforum on 23.1.12 Abstract: This paper evaluates the experiences of smallholder farmers in the Makhathini Flats, South Africa, who have been cultivating Bt cotton since 1998. I begin by focusing on the high adoption rates achieved soon after its introduction and re-emphasize the context – geographical, institutional, historical – that underpinned this initial period of success, arguing that the story of Bt cotton in Makhathini reflects these structural processes as much as it serves as an endorsement of Genetically Modified (GM) technology. The paper then shifts to an investigation of how the representation of Makhathini’s success has been used as crucial ammunition to help convince other African nations to adopt GM crops. In the final part of the article I emphasize the disconnect between the dominant representation of Makhathini that is celebrated in the scholarly and popular literature and the realities faced by its cotton growers. I argue that the representation of Makhathini’s success with Bt cotton has outlived the realities recounted by its farmers. Keywords: Makhathini Flats; Genetic Modification; Bt cotton; smallholder farmers; South Africa. 1. Introduction The Makhathini Flats, in the northern-most part of the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal, first entered the war of words over the potential offered by genetically modified (GM) crops to African farmers in 1997. In that year South Africa passed the Genetically Modified Organisms Act, making it the first nation in Africa to legislate the dissemination of GM technology.