Seeds of Contestation: Genetically Modified Crops and the Politics of Agricultural Modernization in Ghana
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ABSTRACT Title of Document: SEEDS OF CONTESTATION: GENETICALLY MODIFIED CROPS AND THE POLITICS OF AGRICULTURAL MODERNIZATION IN GHANA Jacqueline Alyce Ignatova, PhD, 2015 Directed By: Associate Professor Virginia Haufler, Department of Government & Politics What actors, expertise, and models of development are advanced by the ‘new Green Revolution in Africa’? This dissertation addresses this question through a blend of discourse analysis and ethnographic fieldwork during a period of agricultural transition in Northern Ghana. What struggles over authority, knowledge, identity, and property define this contemporary political economy of agricultural modernization in Ghana? I argue that legal, techno-scientific expertise and agribusiness work together to advance a model of agricultural development based on new forms of capital, governance structures, and technology. This model of agricultural development is mobilized and legitimated through discourses of emergency, salvation, entrepreneurship, and humanitarianism. In this new Green Revolution in Africa, regions like Northern Ghana are seen by development planners as ‘backwards,’ with growing ‘yield gaps’ that undermine food security. What is needed, from this perspective, is capital investment, entrepreneurship, and access to yield-enhancing technologies, such as ‘pro-poor biotechnology.’ Deficiency frames, the combined use of hype and science, and donations become critical mechanisms to facilitate—or resist—the entry of contested agricultural technologies and models of agricultural development. At the center of these discursive strategies is the figure of the farmer, who is seen as an agent and object of salvation by proponents and opponents alike. I complement discourse analysis with ethnography to show that these grand plans to transform farming from a way of life to a business are constantly challenged by the existing complexity of Africans’ multiple, coexisting roles, risk reduction practices, and notions of entrepreneurship. SEEDS OF CONTESTATION: GENETICALLY MODIFIED CROPS AND THE POLITICS OF AGRICULTURAL MODERNIZATION IN GHANA By Jacqueline Alyce Ignatova Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2015 Advisory Committee: Associate Professor Virginia Haufler, Chair Professor Ken Conca Assistant Professor John McCauley Assistant Professor Isabella Alcañiz Professor Roberto Patricio Korzeniewicz © Copyright by Jacqueline Alyce Ignatova 2015 Acknowledgements I am very grateful for the years of support I have received in developing this project. I thank Ken Conca for consistently asking tough questions that helped me to develop my ideas and for encouraging me to do fieldwork. My independent study with Ken was a critical turning point for me and many of the books we read together have now figured prominently in this dissertation. I thank Virginia Haufler for asking me to consider whether some of the phenomena I had identified as new really was. The dissertation benefited from this attention to history, as well as Virginia’s insights into the work of the private sector in contemporary politics. Additionally, I am thankful to have been able to work with Karol Soltan, John McCauley, Isabella Alcañiz, Patricio Korzeniewicz, Mary Kate Schneider, Mark Shirk, Daniel Owens, Jennifer Wallace, Michael Beevers, Rodrigo Pinto, Marty Kobren, and Jonathan Hensley at the University of Maryland, many of whom provided me with feedback on earlier versions of this project. This project also benefited from the support provided at the Institute for Qualitative and Multi-Method Research (IQMR) in Syracuse, the Johns Hopkins graduate student colloquium, the University of Maryland Program for Society and the Environment, the African Seminar at Johns Hopkins University, Margaret Keck’s Research and Writing Seminar, feedback from panels at the International Studies Association, and my writing group colleagues at the University of South Florida. In particular, I am grateful for the feedback of Margaret Keck, Sara Berry, Alice Wiemers, Jennifer Clapp, Garrett Graddy, Nora McKeon, Casey McNeill, Elizabeth Bennett, Sinem Adar, Jane Bennett, Simon Nicholson, Biko Koenig, Lori Leonard, Siba Grovogui, Pier Larson, Beth Mendenhall, Noah Zerbe, and Chad Shomura. This project would not have been what it is without the guidance of my friends in Ghana, the financial support of the Fulbright fellowship (grant #34122686), and the words of encouragement from my family as they followed my travel from afar. I thank Alice Wiemers and John McCauley for helping me find great contacts that assisted with my research in Tamale. I will always be grateful for Dr. Salifu Mahama and his wonderful family for hosting us. I learned so much from Bakari Nyari and appreciate tremendously his constant support. I also would like to thank Christopher Azaare, Faiza and Kaka Taimako, Bonaba, Uncle Musa, Ishmael Salifu, Daniel Olad, Miles Adongo, Bern Guri, Lansah Alhassan, Issahaku Alhassan, the Banashek family, Stephen Perry, Nii Sarpei, and my friends at the Tamale Institute for Cross-Cultural Studies. I also thank the Program for Society and the Environment as well as the UMD Department of Government and Politics for travel support. Lastly, I would like to thank my best friend, partner, travel companion, and editor extraordinaire Anatoli Ignatov, who has been so supportive throughout this process. I am so grateful for the countless hours of conversations and ideas exchanged that made this project what it is today. ii Table of Contents Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………ii Table of Contents……………………………………………………………………..iii List of Abbreviations…………………………………………………………………iv Chapter 1: Introduction: Politicizing Agricultural Development: Contesting Discourses of Authority, Expertise, and Identity in Ghana…………………………...1 Chapter 2: Technological Savior or Terminator Gene? Hype, Science and Law in the GMO Debate…………………………………………………………………………43 Chapter 3: What is New About the ‘New Green Revolution’? Philanthrocapital, Biocapital, and Public-Private Partnerships………………………………………….84 Chapter Four: Experts and Entrepreneurs: From Farming as a Way of Life to Farming as a Business………………………………………………………………………..129 Chapter Five: Conclusion: Seed Politics and the Question of Democracy…………165 Appendix……………………………………………………………………………177 Bibliography………………………………………………………………………..182 iii List of Abbreviations 3ADI African Accelerated Agribusiness and Agro-Industries Development Initiative AATF African Agricultural Technology Foundation ABNE African Biosafety Network of Expertise ABS Africa Biofortified Sorghum ABSP Agricultural Biotechnology Support Project ACDI/VOCA Agricultural Cooperative Development International/Volunteers in Overseas Cooperative Assistance ADB Agricultural Development Bank of Ghana ADVANCE Agricultural Development and Value Chain Enhancement AfDB African Development Bank AFSTA African Seed Traders Association AGOA African Growth and Opportunity Act AGRA Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa ARC Institute for Agricultural Research (South Africa) ASTI Agricultural Science and Technology Indicators AU African Union BMGF Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation BNARI Biotechnology and Nuclear Agriculture Research Institute Bt Bacillus thuringiensis BUSAC Business Sector Advocacy Challenge Fund CAADP Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme CARGS Competitive agricultural grant system CEDO Community Enterprise Development Organization CEO Chief Executive Officer CFT Confined field trial CGIAR Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research CIAT International Center for Tropical Agriculture CIMMYT International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center CIP International Potato Center COFAM Coalition for Farmers’ Rights and Advocacy Against GMOs CORAF West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development CRI Crops Research Institute (Ghana) CSIR Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (Ghana) CSIRO Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (Australia) DFID Department for International Development (UK) DONATA Dissemination of New Agricultural Technologies in Africa EDAIF Export Development and Agricultural Investment Fund FARA Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa FAO United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization FAS Foreign Agricultural Service (US) FDI Foreign Direct Investment FSG Food Sovereignty Ghana G8 Group of Eight iv GAIN Global Agricultural Information Network GAPs Good agricultural practices GCAP Ghana Commercial Agriculture Project GE Genetically engineered GIIN Global Impact Investing Network GM Genetically modified GMO Genetically modified organism HYVs High yield varieties IAASTD International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development IAR Institute for Agricultural Research (Nigeria) IARCs International Agricultural Research Centres ICRISAT International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics IFAD International Fund for Agricultural Development IFDC International Fertilizer Development Center IFPRI International Food Policy Research Institute IITA International Institute for Tropical Agriculture IMF International Monetary Fund INERA Institute of Environment and Agricultural Research (Burkina Faso) IP Intellectual property IPRs Intellectual property rights IRRI International Rice Research Institute ISAAA International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications