This book was first published in 1992. This book deals with an area of great importance: the issues involved in developing biotechnologically based industries in the developing countries. The science and most of the techniques are well established and it is often possible to obtain the desired finance. This book, however, examines the sort of choices that a developing country has to make as to whether to go ahead with any of the projects outlined in the book and their likely socio-economic consequences. Each chapter is written by experts in their field and discusses the current biotechnologically based industries and their state of development, their suitability for various economies and the problems associated with developing them. Chapters discuss environmental questions and further socio-economic factors that need to be considered in order to bring about successful wealth creation in these countries. This book will be invaluable reading for all those interested in biotechnology and its application to the developing world.
Describes the economic, scientific, and social factors that will influence the future of biotechnology in agriculture. Shows that both private and public sector R&D are contributing significantly to the development of biotechnologies. A review of 23 published studies on the subject.
Probing the profitable new science of creating--and altering--life forms "Extraordinarily well documented . . . remarkably clear. This is the most comprehensive coverage of these issues to date. It will be required reading for some time." -- Lawrence Busch, Michigan State University "Krimsky and Wrubel not only describe the components of agricultural biotechnology, they address and analyze controversies involving the risks and benefits of new technologies. Coverage of technical to social components of agricultural biotechnology is unusually complete and thorough. Their even-handed and comprehensive approach to these topics is rare and extremely valuable." -- Richard Weinzierl, University of Illinois Modern agriculture is being transformed by the genetic alteration of seeds, animals, and microorganisms, a process that has produced such products as flavor saver tomatoes and crops resistant to specific insects or herbicides. Agricultural Biotechnology and the Environment is the first comprehensive overview of the ongoing transformation of agriculture, exploring the impact of genetic engineering from scientific, social, ethical, and ecological perspectives. Sheldon Krimsky and Roger Wrubel detail the impact the new generation of products is expected to have on agricultural practice and the environment and assess the degree to which current trends in biotechnology match earlier expectations. They also analyze the social and political response to innovations resulting from genetic technology. Closely examined in each of three areas--transgenic plants, genetically engineered microorganisms, and transgenic animals--are technical and scientific problems, social controversies, and anticipated environmental impacts. An objective, detailed look at a subject of interest to a broad spectrum of readers, Agricultural Biotechnology and the Environment will be of interest to researchers in the new biotechnology fields as well as to educated general readers and policymakers. A volume in the series The Environment and the Human Condition
There are currently many controversial socioeconomic issues concerned with the development and implementation of agricultural biotechnology. This book presents selected revised and edited papers from the fourth and fifth meetings of the International Consortium on Agricultural Biotechnology Research, held in Italy in 2000 and 2001.
Around the world, many countries are increasing efforts to promote biomass production for industrial uses including biofuels and bio-products such as chemicals and bio-plastic. Against a backdrop of lively public debate on sustainability, bioenergy wields both positive and negative impacts upon a variety of environmental and socio-economic issues. These include property rights, labor conditions, social welfare, economic wealth, poverty reduction and more. This book discusses the issues and impacts of bioenergy, taking into account the local and regional framework under which bioenergy is produced, touching upon educational level, cultural aspects, the history and economies of the producing countries and an array of policies including environmental and social targets. The book surveys and analyzes global bioenergy production from a number of perspectives. The authors illustrate the complexity of interrelated topics in the bioenergy value chain, ranging from agriculture to conversion processes, as well as from social implications to environmental effects. It goes on to offer insight on future challenges associated with the expected boom of a global bio-based economy, which contributes to the paradigm shift from a fossil-based to a biomass and renewable energy-based economy. The expert contributors include researchers, investors, policy makers, representatives from NGOs and other stakeholders, from Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America. Their contributions build upon the results of the Global-Bio-Pact project on “Global Assessment of Biomass and Bio-product Impacts on Socio-economics and Sustainability,” which was supported by the European Commission in its 7th Framework Program for Research and Technological Development, conducted from February 2010 to January 2013. The book benefits policy makers, scientists and NGO staffers working in the fields of agriculture, forestry, biotechnology and energy.
This book presents the first thorough economic analysis of current agricultural biotechnology regulation. The contributors, most of whom are agricultural economists working either in universities or NGOs, address issues such as commercial pesticides, the costs of approving new products, liability, benefits, consumer acceptance, regulation and its impacts, transgenic crops, social welfare implications, and biosafety.
Biotechnology offers great potential to contribute to sustainable agricultural growth, food security and poverty alleviation in developing countries. Yet there are economic and institutional constraints at national and international levels that inhibit the poor people's access to appropriate biotechnological innovations. Agricultural Biotechnology in Developing Countries: Towards Optimizing the Benefits for the Poor addresses the major constraints. Twenty-three chapters, written by a wide range of scholars and stake-holders, provide an up-to-date analysis of agricultural biotechnology developments in Latin America, Africa and Asia. Besides the expected economic and social impacts, the challenges for an adjustment of the international research structure are discussed, with a special focus on intellectual property rights and the roles of the main research organizations. Harnessing the comparative advantages of the public and private sectors through innovative partnerships is the only way forward to optimize the benefits of biotechnology for the poor. The book will be an invaluable resource for both academics and policy-makers concerned with agricultural biotechnology in context of developing-countries.
Although the first Agro-Food products based on modem biotechnology (e. g. recombinant chymosin for cheese production; tomato puree based on genetically engineered tomatoes; herbicide-resistant, genetically modified soybean; insect resistant maize) have been introduced in the EU markets in recent years, the application of this technology is still being intensively discussed in the European Union. Recent opinion polls indicate as well that consumers' acceptance of genetically engineered food and agro-products still is relatively low (e. g. European Commission 1997, Hampel et al. 1997), at least in some member states of the EU. In contrast, representatives from politics and industry underline the necessity to apply modem biotechnology in the Agro-Food sector as well, mainly to ensure the competitiveness of EU agriculture and food industry and for employment reasons. Against this background there seems to be a need for a scientific analysis of the future impacts of modem biotechnology in the Agro-Food sector of the EU. Recent studies trying to analyse this issue (e. g. OECD 1992, Teuber 1992) usually comprise extrapolations of status-quo analyses. What has not been exploited so far in this context are systematic technology forecasting approaches which do not include only one single country, but get information on an international level. Therefore, the impacts of modem biotechnology on the Agro-Food sector in five member countries of the EU (Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain) have been analysed with the help of the Delphi methodology which represents one of the most reliable tools for technology forecasting.
154 citations in English covering: biotechnology, bioengineering, transgenic topics, genetics, & ethics, mass media, society, consumers, public opinion, etc. Many citations have abstracts. Author & subject indexes.
Systems analysis for sustainability is an emerging discipline where technologies, processes or policies are evaluated comprehensively for sustainability. Trifold sustainability metrics such as technical feasibility, economic viability and environmental impacts are commonly used to assess sustainability. In addition to these metrics, it is important to consider resource sustainability, policies and social aspects for evaluating the sustainability of any proposed alternative. Green-Economy: Systems Analysis for Sustainability provides a theoretical background to perform such analyses and detailed case studies. The first part of this book introduces methods and tools to perform technical feasibility analysis, economic viability analysis, environmental impacts assessment, environmental risk assessment, resource sustainability assessment, policy and social aspects of technologies, general logic-based sustainability assessment for green products and introduces resilience thinking. The second part of the book focuses on case studies with an emphasis on solar energy, biofuels and bioproducts from across the globe. Covers sustainability analysis for bioeconomy Provides theoretical background for conducting sustainability analysis Includes case studies from around the world that use these methods Examines techno-economic analysis, life cycle assessment, resource assessment, environmental risk analysis, policy and social aspects of technologies
