The economic impact of genetically modified cotton on South African smallholders: Yield, profit and health effects

Bennett, R., Morse, S. and Ismael, Y. (2006) The economic impact of genetically modified cotton on South African smallholders: Yield, profit and health effects. Journal of Development Studies, 42 (4). pp. 662-677. ISSN 0022-0388 doi: 10.1080/00220380600682215

Abstract/Summary

Results of a large-scale survey of resource-poor smallholder cotton farmers in South Africa over three years conclusively show that adopters of Bt cotton have benefited in terms of higher yields, lower pesticide use, less labour for pesticide application and substantially higher gross margins per hectare. These benefits were clearly related to the technology, and not to preferential adoption by farmers who were already highly efficient. The smallest producers are shown to have benefited from adoption of the Bt variety as much as, if not more than, larger producers. Moreover, evidence from hospital records suggests a link between declining pesticide poisonings and adoption of the Bt variety.