On the introduction of genetically modified bananas in Uganda: social benefits, costs, and consumer preferences

Agriculture is the mainstay for the great majority of rural people in most African countries and is essential for poverty reduction and food security. The role of agriculture towards poverty reduction, however, has not been realized in Africa, despite advances in development of technologies such as improved varieties suitable to local conditions and resistant to pests, diseases and droughts stresses. Plant breeding using modern biotechnology and genetic modification in particular has the potential of speeding-up crop improvement. However, the central issue in agricultural biotechnology particularly in Africa is to achieve a functional biosafety system to ensure that a country has the capacity to assess risks that may be associated with modern biotechnology. Several countries have designed and implemented policies to address the safety concerns of consumers and producers, including environment and food safety. One of the requirements, as proposed in Article 2 of the Cartagena Protocol, is the inclusion of socioeconomic considerations in the biosafety assessment process. Many developing countries, including Uganda, have not determined whether and how to include socioeconomic considerations. Specifically, at what stage of the regulatory process should they be included, the involved scope, as well as the nature of the decision-making process within the biosafety regulations. The aim of my thesis is to examine potential social welfare impacts of introducing a GM banana in order to illustrate the relevance of socioeconomic analyses for supporting biotechnology decision-making and in particular the importance of consumer perceptions but also for contributing to the development and implementation of biosafety regulations. I present a general approach using GM banana as an example, while assuming the GM banana has passed standard food and biosafety safety assessments, i.e. can be considered to be safe. I explore the benefit-cost trade-offs of its introduction and the farmers’ and consumers’ willingness to pay for the technology and the end product. In the study I present a framework for considering concerns about genetically modified crops within a socioeconomic analysis of GM crops, using real options and choice experiment approaches. The approaches relate the economic benefits to consumers’ concerns. The results show that the introduction of GM bananas would be desirable for the Ugandan society as a whole, mainly benefit poor rural households and would merit policy support. Nevertheless, if such a GM banana is introduced its introduction may result in strong opposition from the opponent segment of the population, which is composed of mainly urban consumers with an on average higher education and income. Interestingly and in contradiction to common wisdom only providing additional information about the technology and its safety will not result in higher acceptance. Based on this case study biosafety regulators would need to consider these socioeconomic effects before a decision to introduce a GM banana is made. However, the decision to consider socioeconomic impacts for other GM crops elsewhere depends on the crop and the country. The research methodology in this thesis provides the basis for assessing other GM crops as well. <br/

Does gender matter in effective management of plant disease epidemics? Insights from a survey among rural banana farming households in Uganda

Crop diseases significantly suppress plant yields and in extreme cases wipe out entire crop species threatening food security and eroding rural livelihoods. It is therefore critical to estimate the extent to which shocks like disease epidemics can affect food availability and the capacity of smallholder farmers to mitigate and reverse the effects of such shocks. This study utilizes sex-disaggregated data from 341 households in Uganda to analyze: first, gender and access to agricultural resources and their control; second, whether men and women in the targeted banana-farming communities share similar perceptions toward the effectiveness of the banana Xanthomonas wilt (BXW) control technologies and their respective information dissemination pathways; third, whether gender and farmer perceptions influence on farm adoption of BXW management practices. Lastly, it determines the impact of adoption of BXW control practices on food security. Results show that whereas most household assets are jointly owned, men have more individual ownership, control, and decision-making on income from household assets than women. Perceptions on effectiveness of BXW control practices and communication channels also differed between men and women. Men rated cutting down of infected plants to be more effective than women, but tissue culture, removal of male buds and disinfecting of farm tools were perceived to be equally effective by both men and women. In addition, apart from newspapers which were more effective in delivering BXW information to men, we found no differences in the effectiveness of other BXW information sources. More importantly, the study finds both gender and farmer perceptions on BXW control to significantly affect adoption of BXW control practices and household food security. For better and sustainable management of plant epidemics in Uganda, it is therefore critical that existing gender-based and underlying perception constraints are addressed

Attitudes, perceptions, and trust. Insights from a consumer survey regarding genetically modified banana in Uganda

Genetically modified (GM) crops and food are still controversial. This paper analyzes consumers’ perceptions and institutional awareness and trust toward GM banana regulation in Uganda. Results are based on a study conducted among 421 banana-consuming households between July and August 2007. Results show a high willingness to purchase GM banana among consumers. An explanatory factor analysis is conducted to identify the perceptions toward genetic modification. The identified factors are used in a cluster analysis that grouped consumers into segments of GM skepticism, government trust, health safety concern, and food and environmental safety concern. Socioeconomic characteristics differed significantly across segments. Consumer characteristics and perception factors influence consumers’ willingness to purchase GM banana. The institutional awareness and trust varied significantly across segments as well. The findings would be essential to policy makers when designing risk-communication strategies targeting different consumer segments to ensure proper discussion and addressing potential concerns about GM technology

Consumer Perceptions towards Introducing a Genetically Modified Banana (Musa spp.) in Uganda

The introduction of a genetically modified (GM) banana (Musa spp.) in Uganda is not without controversy. It is likely to generate a wide portfolio of concerns as the technology of genetic engineering is still in its early stages of development in Uganda. The purpose of this study is to show how consumers feel about GM banana biosafety risks and the potential challenges for marketing the product. The study analyzes socio-demographic characteristics, awareness and attitudes of banana-consuming households that would be affected by the introduction of a GM banana in Uganda. The study was conducted in different regions in Uganda where cooking bananas (‘matooke’, AAA-EA genome) are produced and consumed, including urban areas that are sole consumers of bananas. This allowed us to capture the heterogeneity in preferences across different population segments. The survey sample was drawn using a random multistage sampling procedure from the major banana-consuming regions in eastern, central, and southwestern Uganda. Respondents were stratified into rural and urban consumers of ‘matooke’ and received extra information about the GM banana. A total of 440 households were selected from current village listing for the survey. The results reveal that consumers trust local community leaders and public agricultural related organizations in controlling and regulating production and release of GM food and crops. Three main categories of consumer perceptions were identified: a) benefit; b) food and environmental concern; and c) future health concern. A comparison of consumer characteristics, perceptions and attitudes showed significant differences between rural and urban consumers. Consumers in rural areas are more likely to accept the introduction of a GM banana regardless of whether they grow or buy bananas. Urban consumers are more concerned about long-term health effects. Finally, we discuss the implications of the results for biotechnology and biosafety regulations for GM bananas in Uganda

‘If labels for GM food were present, would consumers trust them?’ Insights from a consumer survey in Uganda

Food labelling is costly. Food labelling is often demanded with the introduction of new food products such as genetically modified (GM) food. If consumers do not have trust in the label, scarce resources are wasted. This paper investigates factors affecting the trust in food labels among Ugandan consumers. The results suggest that older, less-educated individuals of smaller household sizes and with trust in government institutions have more trust in food labels. Other factors were also found to be important. The government has to consider those differences in consumer trust when designing a GM labelling policy

A latent class approach to investigating demand for genetically modified banana in Uganda

This study explores consumer acceptance and valuation of a genetically modified (GM) staple food crop in a developing country prior to its commercialization. We focus on the hypothetical introduction of a disease-resistant GM banana variety in Uganda, where bananas are among the most important staple crops. A choice experiment is used to investigate consumer preferences for various attributes related to the banana (such as bunch size, technology, producer benefit, and price) and examine their opinions on GM foodstuff. Choice data come from 421 banana-consuming households randomly selected from three regions of Uganda. A latent class model is used to investigate the heterogeneity in consumers’ preferences for selected attributes related to the banana and to profile consumers who are more or less likely to accept GM bananas. Our results reveal that there is significant heterogeneity in consumer preferences across our sample. GM bananas are valued the most by poorer households located in the rural areas of the Eastern region. These food-insecure households would experience the highest benefits (i.e., welfare gains) from the commercial release of GM bananas. In contrast, urban consumers are less accepting of GM bananas, and they would experience significant welfare losses if GM banana is released. According to our welfare estimates, both the total welfare benefits acquired by the gainers and the total welfare losses borne by the losers of this technology are significant and large. These results suggest the need for further investigation of the overall welfare effects of the introduction of GM bananas on the Ugandan society as a whol

Do European Union Farmers Reject Genetically Modified Maize? Farmer preferences for Genetically Modified Maize in Greece

The new EU proposal (IP/10/921) states that bans on genetically modified (GM) crops should not be based on environmental and health grounds, and it proposes a set of alternative reasons—including public order and morals—that can be cited by member states. This reveals the increasing importance of stakeholders’ attitudes in GM crops’ release decisions. This article analyzes farmers’ attitudes and perceptions toward GM maize based on a survey of large-area Greek farmers in Northeastern Greece. A considerable number of respondents (61%) would adopt GM maize if Greece lifts the ban on GM maize cultivation. This result opposes recent findings from countries strongly opposing GM crops (such as France and Hungary), where bans are in line with the majority view of farmers. The ban is against what the majority of large-area farmers in Greece would choose if allowed