KwaZulu Natal: Technological Triumph but Institutional Failure
Gouse M, Kirsten J, Shankar B, Thirtle C (2005). University of Pretoria and Department of Environmental Science.
This paper is relevant to the Socio-Economic, and Developing Country categories in the following areas:
| Crops: | Cotton |
| Traits: | Insect Resistance, and Insect Res. (BT) |
| Countries: | South Africa |
| Regions: | Africa |
| ImpactAreas: | Socio-Economic, Developing Countries, and Yield |
Abstract or Summary:
In the1998/1999 season, Bt cotton was commercially released to Zulu smallholders in Makhatini
Flats, KwaZulu Natal and by 2001/2 over 90% of the approximately 3500 farmers in the area had
adopted Bt varieties. This in itself suggests that Bt cotton was successful and all the studies that
have been conducted confirm that Bt cotton offers advantages. The benefits are increased yield
and decreased use of insecticides, which improved income and lowered costs more than enough
to offset the higher seed costs, so profits rose. With several years of data, it is clear that the
relative magnitudes of the benefits depend on the weather and that single surveys give very
variable answers. There can be social costs in terms of job losses, if cutbacks in spraying and
fetching water are not counter-balanced by output increases requiring more weeding and harvest
labour. There are also social benefits, as less pesticide residues reduce damage to the soil, water
and wildlife and improve health. Studies in China, Argentina and Mexico, which are the other
developing countries where farmers are using Bt, show the same variability in benefits. For
African smallholders, we would expect the yield effect to be important due to the initial situation,
in which the relatively advanced farmers in these other countries were using sufficient pesticides
to deal with the bollworm effectively, whereas pesticide use in Makhatini Flats was well below
the required level. Thus, technologically Bt looks like an excellent technology for other African
countries, but Makhatini also serves as a warning that institutional failure is the norm rather than
the exception in Africa. In the last two seasons, cotton production has been drastically reduced,
due to lack of credit.
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