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Silenced voices, vital arguments: smallholder farmers in the Mexican GM maize controversy

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  • Susana Carro-Ripalda
  • Marta Astier

Abstract

Smallholder producers are the collective most likely to be affected by the introduction of GMOs globally, yet the least included in public debates and consultation about the development, implementation or regulation of this agricultural biotechnology. Why are the voices and arguments of smallholder farmers being excluded from national and international GM debates and regulation? In this article, we identify barriers which prevent smallholder farmers in Mexico from having a voice in public political, economic, scientific and social fori regarding the GM maize controversy. Through the analysis of empirical data from a case study in Mexico, we identify political, institutional, economic and ontological reasons that lie behind that exclusion. We conclude with an appraisal of smallholder farmers’ perspectives on GM maize and their visions of Mexico’s rural future, within which they demand a meaningful and rightful space. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014

Suggested Citation

  • Susana Carro-Ripalda & Marta Astier, 2014. "Silenced voices, vital arguments: smallholder farmers in the Mexican GM maize controversy," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 31(4), pages 655-663, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:agrhuv:v:31:y:2014:i:4:p:655-663
    DOI: 10.1007/s10460-014-9533-3
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Daniela Soleri & David Cleveland, 2006. "Transgenic Maize and Mexican Maize Diversity: Risky Synergy?," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 23(1), pages 27-31, March.
    2. Elizabeth Fitting, 2006. "Importing Corn, Exporting Labor: The Neoliberal Corn Regime, GMOs, and the Erosion of Mexican Biodiversity," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 23(1), pages 15-26, March.
    3. Sheila Jasanoff, 2000. "Between risk and precaution -- reassessing the future of GM crops," Journal of Risk Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 3(3), pages 277-282, July.
    4. David Quist & Ignacio H. Chapela, 2001. "Transgenic DNA introgressed into traditional maize landraces in Oaxaca, Mexico," Nature, Nature, vol. 414(6863), pages 541-543, November.
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    Cited by:

    1. Marisol Velázquez-Salazar & Germán Scalzo & Carmen Byker Shanks, 2021. "Colored Heirloom Corn as a Public Good: The Case of Tlaxcala, Mexico," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-16, February.
    2. Bharat Ramaswami & Milind Murugkar & N. Lalitha & Carl E. Pray, 2022. "The Political Economy of Plant Biotechnology: Farmers, Media and Opinion in India," Working Papers 75, Ashoka University, Department of Economics.
    3. Jason Donovan & Pieter Rutsaert & Ciro Domínguez & Meliza Peña, 2022. "Capacities of local maize seed enterprises in Mexico: Implications for seed systems development," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 14(2), pages 509-529, April.

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