Land Reform, Betterment Schemes, and the Green Revoluton in South Africa, 1913–2013

Catherine Higgs will discuss the failure of the Green Revolution in South Africa.  Political control of land reform by the white minority prevented land reform that is essential to the application of Green Revolution agricultural technologies for agricultural improvement.  Without land reform and the expansion of holdings by small-scale farmers, agricultural science in the form of new seed varieties, fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, and irrigation cannot be economically justified.  Moreover, many small-scale farmers as well as the many consumers have rejected GMO crops for fear of endangerment to their health.  Racial politics prevents even rudimentary Green Revolution change.