Global Value Chain, Information Flows and GM Cotton Impacts in Burkina Faso, South Africa and Kenya: A planning grant proposal

Some developing countries have actively pursued genetically modified(GM) cotton cultivation. GM cotton commercialization has required sustained investments in conventional breeding and advanced genetics, as well as, an enabling economic environment conducive to innovation and technology deployment. Gaining an understanding on how institutional factors determine economic gains is thus important to evaluate their impact on potential adoption outcomes. It is also critical to identify policies and economic incentives that will facilitate the adaptation of new technologies including gaining an understanding of how information flows to and from producers within national and Global Value Chains (GVCs). There are no studies that have addressed these issues using a comprehensive GVC analysis focused on the role of information and knowledge flows,as related to different economic structures and innovation environments and impact. To examine these issues in a comprehensive manner, the need exists of conducting a set of studies in diverse countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Given the broad scope of such project and the need to further define the issues and methods for implementation, we thus we propose a two-stage approach. The first stage, covered by the current planning grant proposal, will be limited to a set of country case studies. We propose conducting a rapid assessment of the existing Bt cotton global and national value chains in Burkina Faso and South Africa as pilot case studies. We propose using the lessons learned from this exercise to tentatively identify potential issues and pathways for the proposed commercial approval and adoption of Bt cotton in Kenya. The experiences gained in the first planning grant will be included in a formal full project proposal -one of the outputs of the current planning grant- which will be submitted to the Templeton Foundation for funding consideration considering an expanded set of countries.