Farmers’ knowledge and opinions towards bollgard II® implementation in cotton production in western Burkina Faso

Abstract

In 2008, the commercial cultivation of Genetically Modified (GM) cotton (Bollgard II) started in Burkina Faso. The adoption rate increased rapidly in subsequent years to reach around 70% in 2014. Although some criticisms were raised concerning the suitability of the technology for the farming system in Burkina Faso, the introduction of transgenic cotton in the country was generally regarded as a great success. Despite this, during the 2016-2017 agricultural campaign, the government of Burkina Faso decided to suspend the cultivation of Bollgard II. In this context, this paper investigates farmers' knowledge, perceptions, opinions and attitudes towards Bollgard II as well as their views on the recent decision to suspend its cultivation. Data was collected from 324 cotton farmers, both growers of conventional and Bollgard II. The results showed that the farmers surveyed had a poor knowledge concerning the core concepts of biotechnology and Bollgard II in particular. Moreover, the regulatory oversight of the implementation of the technology was found insufficient, as illustrated by the lack of compliance with prescriptions concerning refuge areas and pesticide treatments. Nevertheless, overall, the farmers interviewed had a slightly positive opinion about the effects on yield, income and their wellbeing. In particular the reduction in pesticide treatments was perceived very positively by all respondents. Although the study finds that the majority of farmers disagreed with the recent suspension of Bt cotton cultivation by the government, it also makes clear that a thorough debate on the technology and its implementation is necessary.

Peasant essentialism in GMO debates: Bt cotton in Burkina Faso

“…This smaller group of committed activists told me that they felt somewhat marginalized within their community. Further supporting this point, a survey conducted in 2015 of 324 farmers from 12 villages found that 88% of farmers disapproved of the state decision to suspend Bt cotton (Sanou et al, 2018). If anything, farmers target their ire more proximally at SOFITEX (Luna, 2019).…”

“…However, this message was factually inaccurate. Based on extensive interviews from 2016, the Burkinabè decision to not renew a contract with Monsanto was based entirely on Bt cotton's lower profitability for the cotton companies because of the shorter fibre length and less desirable ginning ratio (also see Bavier, 2017;Dowd-Uribe & Schnurr, 2016;Fok, 2016; L'Economiste du Faso, 2016;Sanou, Gheysen, Koulibaly, Roelofs, & Speelman, 2018).…”

Farmers’ Preferences for Cotton Cultivation Characteristics: A Discrete Choice Experiment in Burkina Faso

“…However, a third level of four insecticide treatments was defined to see whether there is a tradeoff with other characteristics. This third level is also sustained by the trends in Bt cotton farms, where an increased abundance of non-targeted insects was observed, so that the number of required insecticide treatment tends to increase [23].…”

“…This level of appreciation from small-scale farmers could be related to the findings of Renaudin et al [18], who highlighted the financial risks for small farmers attributed to Bt cotton cultivation owing to the high seed price of Bt cotton. More recently, Sanou et al [23] also found that the seed price policy was the main constraint listed by small-scale farmers. When considering the ASC for the large farmers groups, our model seems to suggest that they were satisfied with their current situation regardless of whether they were growing the Bt or non-Bt variety.…”

“…Recently, Sanou et al [23] investigated farmers' opinions towards Bt cotton in Burkina Faso, pointing out that small or subsistence farmers (who dominate the cotton sector of Burkina Faso) were not entirely positive about the economic benefits of Bollgard II ® , mainly because of the seed pricing policy. These results seem to support the concern that Bollgard II ® might not entirely match with farmers' expectations.…”