The ‘philanthropic’ gene: biocapital and the new green revolution in Africa

Jacqueline A. Ignatova

Third World Quarterly, 2017, vol. 38, issue 10, 2258-2275

Abstract: Climate change and population growth have prompted calls for African countries to embrace a ‘new Green Revolution’ in order to promote food security. What is ‘new’ about this new Green Revolution? What configurations of capital, the state, agribusiness, and the law define this period of agricultural transition? In this new Green Revolution, I argue, there is a proliferation of new forms of capital – biocapital and philanthrocapital – that integrate biotechnology with philanthropy to create market value. These shifts are engendered by philanthropic giving, in the form of donated genetic material for the development of ‘pro-poor’ biotechnology which normalises seed as commodity, and legislative reform that renders seed patentable material.

Date: 2017
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DOI: 10.1080/01436597.2017.1322463

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