The Green Revolution

Subtitled 'narratives of politics, technology and gender', this book reviews the Green Revolution from its origins in the 1940s to its application to Africa in the 2000s in the context of political and social processes that produced 'an amalgam of political expediency, technical innovation and social marginalisation, of which poor women make up the largest group.' The consequences for women are central to the argument, especially since they are frequently left in charge if the men go into town to work. It is not surprising that the main benefit of the revolution was larger more capitalised farms, and it is interesting to read about the role of the Rockefellers in initiating the process, and how the US government used it in relation to foreign aid. Neoliberalism as a monoculture of the mind dominates the framework with its concern for efficiency and scale, and corresponds to monoculture in agriculture, which tends to ignore local knowledge, diversity and tradition, for instance the development of special maize varieties in Mexico. The catchphrase these days is sustainable intensification, which does not necessarily correspond with the original impulse of the Green Revolution, and indeed the soils of Africa require actual organic material rather than further fertilisers. One size clearly does not fit all, nor should we assume that technology is the solution to all our problems.