Contenu du sommaire : Biotechnologies et développement agricole

Genetically modified plants in the developing countries : Between discourse and reality. Since the middle of the Nineties, the question of Genetically Modified Plants (GMP) has tapped on the economic competition between the United States and Europe. Africa, emblematic continent for the problematics of development and the recurrent problem of hunger in the world, seems to be the ground of this opposition. GMO promoters base themselves on the aforesaid problems to justify the development of vegetable biotechnologies ; their opponents denounce the claim regarding the ability of GMPs to regulate the problems of hunger and development in the developing countries. In this global competition, the establishment of networks and relays, under United States' instigation, to support national institutes of research and to plead and work for a “new genetic green revolution”, in these countries, does really not seem to enable the mastery of these new biotechnologies by the developing countries. Farming conditions and traditional knowledge too often remain apart from the biotechnological equation. This state of affairs is not without causing tensions, concerns and resistances in the milieu of small scale farmers.

Development of biotechnologies and biotechnologies for development in Mexico, the impossible acquirement. Since the beginning of the 1980's, Mexico has aspired to develop its research in biotechnologies as a leverage for the country's development. In spite of Mexico's biodiversity and public research network potential, Mexican biotechnological research remains too isolated from political institutions and the private sector to evolve easily from fundamental research to applied research and to propose interesting inventions. In addition, the national objectives for development remain unclear when considering the trends of globalization. Under such conditions, biotechnologies have served as instruments of development only with considerable difficulty and the trend of techno-economic dependence tends to increase in this sector.

Can genetically modified plants feed the Third World ? Out of the 6,5 billion inhabitants of our planet, some 852 million still suffer from hunger and more than two billions are victims of malnourishment in proteins, vital fatty acids, vitamins or minerals. This principally concerns the agricultural families of the Third World, who have hardly any means of producing their food requirements to feed correctly, by themselves, or to earn the monetary income sufficient for purchasing enough food from markets. These poor families, who have generally no more than tiny plots and hand tools, are the same that have already proven incapable of drawing gains from high yield varieties which had been proposed to them in the past, within the framework of the classic “green revolution”, due to the notable requirements of chemical fertilizers and expensive phytosanitary products. By enabling the reduction of costs in these manufactured inputs, could genetically modified plants therefore not help them to increase their yields ? Nothing is that simple. Besides the difficulty of dealing with environmental risks induced by the use of these GMPs, farmers must also face the overhead costs resulting from the use of the plants for which the large firms hold patents. The development of GMPs has often demanded considerable investments and the multinational companies which are at it's basis logically try to draw some profits even if these involve selling seeds at high prices and disabling farmers from replanting seeds of their own harvests. The GMPs were not really conceived for insolvent Third World peasants and do not therefore appear to solve the problem of hunger and malnutrition in the Third World.

International alliances for preserving the production of non genetically modified soya in Brazil : Stakes and perspectives. Following a long period of Brazilian government opposition to the use of transgenic soya, the cultivation of this latter has finally been authorized in Brazil. The consequences of this authorization may not be minor whereas it is well known that within the European Union, the principal export opportunity, numerous consumer associations and environmental movements are fighting the imports of all genetically modified soya. The article recounts the conditions in which some peasant organisations in Southern Brazil and european non governmental organisations are trying to establish export links for non transgenic soya to France. The overhead costs for the consumer, mainly incurred from ensuring tracers, remain low. However the global agro business companies are not doing nothing about this ; they are committed to the creation of a « responsible soya » label that would take into account the risks of deforestation linked to the inconsiderate extension of soya in the Amazon basin, but which would still involve GMOs. This appears to be a smart way of dividing civil society through mobilising a part of the environmentalists around the « responsible » label and of finally making GMO acceptable to the European public opinion.

Conditions, results and perspectives of utilisation of genetically modified cotton (Bt-cotton) in the developing countries. The marketing of Genetically Modified varieties took place from 1996/97 onward ; it led to harsh debate about their relevance for Developing countries (DCs). The actual use of Genetically Modified Cotton (GMC) in countries regarded as DCs (mainly South Africa, China, India), since 1997/98, provides materials to go beyond theoretical discussion. This use pertains to Bt-Cotton which results from the integration of an external gene controlling the production of a toxin against some cotton bollworms. There is yet some abundant literature to point out the positive impacts of GMC in terms of technical effectiveness, profitability, and environment and health externalities, as a result of the reduction in chemical sprays. These outcomes are at the basis of some pressure to have GMC use more extended in DCs. This paper targets at implementing a more detailed analysis of the existing experiences so as to discuss the reported success and remind the variation of the observed results with the diffusion and growing conditions ; to mitigate the fear about the inevitable occurrence of a monopoly of the seed distributors who would capture the benefit of GMC use ; to highlight the change on the cost structure, induced by the use of GMC seeds, mand which increases the financial risk in producing cotton ; to point out the impossibility that all farmers would gain from using GMC, hence justifying that conventional cotton will have to co-exist ; to warn about the need and the difficulty to consequently adapt the organization of seed distribution ; to underline both the excessive optimism and pessimism which characterize the anticipations of the impacts of GMC use ; and finally to emphasize the incompleteness of the anticipations which overlooked for instance the phenomenon of pest complex shift and which is leading some pest, formerly secondary ones, to become threatening ones.

Dissemination of genetically modified cotton in South Africa : Lessons for Africa's Zone Franc. The use of Genetically Modified Cotton (GMC) in South Africa, since 1996-1997, derives mainly from commercial farming by white farmers. It is therefore incorrect to present the so-called South African success as an example of successful use of GMC by smallholding farmers. Considering the fluctuating if not declining cotton production in the Makhatini Flats, the so-called success is debatable since it is clear that a mere technological introduction cannot ensure production increase. The South African cotton sector suffered from severe instability, with a negative impact affecting mainly smallholders, thus revealing the limits and constraints of a new technology with regard to the extension of peasant production at national scale. The last stage of institutional evolution within this sector, oriented towards further intensification secured by irrigation, entails a risk of debarring most smallholders from producing cotton in the event that the new approach cannot be scaled up. This questionable evolution of the agriculture in the Makhatini Flats appears to have been concealed, like other important institutional factors, by the exclusive debate about GMC. The results of our research complete the existing ones by indicating poor profits in an unfavourable climatic and institutional context. This reminds us that rain-fed agriculture remains sensitive to climatic hazards and that adoption of new technology might increase its financial risk. As a whole, the outcomes of the GMC use in South Africa are unstable at a very low yield level. Changes in the production cost structure should be emphasized since expenses on seeds become the main cash production cost. Today, only a few countries in Francophone African countries benefit from institutional stability, which is favourable to GMC introduction. Such an introduction calls for preparation notably to negotiate favourable economic conditions of biotechnology transfer and to reorganize seed distribution in compliance with farmers' interests. This preparation would not be easy and adoption of GMC should not be rushed.

Biodiversity, biotechnologies and traditional knowledges. From common human heritage to ABS. By dismissing “the common status of biodiversity” as a colonial heritage of the rich countries (aimed at keeping a free access to developing country resources) and in claiming their national sovereignty on the said resources, developing countries have only played into the hands of biotechnological firms and fostered the cause of “live patenting”. This article shows that they haven't really defended their own interests and the ones of their populations.

Biosecurity in developing countries : From the Cartagena Protocol to national regulations. More than 90 developing countries have signed the Cartagena Protocol on prevention of biotechnological hazards and should therefore logically be able to implement nationally operational legislations, enabling them mainly to refuse the import of living modified organisms without scientific certainty of the risks linked to these LMOs. The principle of precaution should be able to guide the decisions and the actions of signatory States. But such is not really the case. While the mechanisms of the protocol's regulation are being progressively reinforced in international instances, their implementation in the developing countries is facing human, technical and financial requirements, which they often lack, whereas the same countries are subjected to strong external pressures.

Capital account liberalization and exchange rate regime choice, what scope for flexibility in Tunisia ? In a context of gradual opening since 1986, the adoption by Tunisia of structural reforms of its economy had allowed the instauration in January 1993 of the convertibility of its current account. The total convertibility of the Tunisian Dinar remains a top priority in the immediate future like finality of a more close integration of the Tunisian economy to the world economy. The capital account liberalization in Tunisia poses the problematic of the prospective choice of its appropriate exchange rate regime. This study evaluates within a game-theoretic framework the exchange rate regime from a welfare perspective. In a tradable-nontradable goods model framework, Tunisia's exchange rate regime choice is cast in terms of strategic interactions between the monetary authority and domestic enterprises. The monetary authority is assumed to choose an optimal exchange rate regime according to a welfare-related criterion by minimising a loss function defined in terms of external competitiveness and domestic inflation. Simulations outcomes reveal that capital account liberalization in the Tunisian economic context is compatible with a flexible exchange rate regime.

Economic integration, level of development, and fairly compensation schemes. The objective of this paper is to study the nature of the relation that exists between the level of development of countries partners of an economic integration and mechanisms of equitable compensation of processes of this one. Analyses based on the model of factorial endowment of VENABLES (1999 and 2000) put the concept of production externalities forward. They permitted to establish two main results. On the one hand, in all economic integration process, mechanisms of equitable compensation can be simple shape whatever is the nature of countries partners. On the other hand, the mechanism feasibility is bound to levels of partners. However, this last result required the introduction of the circular and cumulative causality hypothesis in the optics of the new economic geography.