Debdatta Sengupta

Bt cotton and farmer suicides in India: an evidence-based assessment

Abstract Bt cotton is accused of being responsible for an increase of farmer suicides in India. In this article, we provide a comprehensive review of evidence on Bt cotton and farmer suicides. Available data show no evidence of a ‘resurgence’ of farmer suicides. Moreover, Bt cotton technology has been very effective overall in India. Nevertheless, in specific districts and years, Bt cotton may have indirectly contributed to farmer indebtedness, leading to suicides, but its failure was mainly the result of the context or environment in which it was planted.

Reviewing South Africa's marketing and trade policies for genetically modified products

South Africa is unique in that it has commercialised genetically modified (GM) crops and has a functional biosafety system, which allows for trade in both GM and non-GM crops, despite being surrounded by countries banning the use of GM products. This paper analyses the past achievements and evolving changes in marketing and trade policies for GM products in South Africa. A quantitative analysis of South Africas GM imports and exports demonstrates the success of South Africas flexible regulatory system. Yet a review of recent reforms indicates a trend towards more rigid trade and marketing regulations of GM products. This paper suggests five policy recommendations to improve rather than rigidify regulations and allow South Africa to adapt to global changes, manage risks and take advantage of potentially promising new GM technologies.

Policy Reforms in Central Asian Agriculture: A Synthesis and Conclusion

The Central Asian countries covered in this volume include Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. The book brought together several chapters to show how each sector development is important and contributes to the overall development of agriculture and improves food security concerns in the region. Each chapter focused on a particular issue relating to policy reforms for agricultural development either directly or indirectly. However, a central conclusion of this volume is that if the CIS countries are to benefit from policy reforms, they have to be executed in a coherent manner with the government, private sector and external agencies taking equal responsibilities in the process. Liberalization cannot be the panacea for all problems of a centrally planned economy. Neither would it be effective if done in a ‘namesake’ manner. Government control needs to be selectively phased out so that shock to the population is the least. Liberalization of markets without creating supporting market infrastructure like credit financing, banking, and developing of marketing channels would also be untenable. To monitor the proper functioning of these, good governance needs to be in place so that the benefits of the reforms can reach the population at large. The role of monitoring the progress made through policy reforms and evaluating the positive benefits and negative effects of such reforms for developing research-based policies and programs cannot be overestimated.

Strengthening Institutional Capacity for Policy Reforms in Central Asia

In this chapter there are a wide variety of issues related to strengthening institutional capacity for designing and implementing policy reforms in the Central Asian countries have been discussed. While countries in Central Asia are at various levels of the reform process, the issues related to human and institutional capacity for conducting research and analysis for enabling policy reforms remains equally a challenge in all of the Central Asian countries. While learning from each other is beneficial in understanding the process of institutional capacity strengthening, countries can benefit from other countries in Eastern Europe and the West on how institutions are organized to produce effective capacity for information generation and policymaking. Attaining the food security, poverty reduction, and sustainable natural resource management goals in the region will require developing national strategies and investing adequate resources to achieve those strategies.