THE COMPLEX CHOREOGRAPHY of AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY in AFRICA

In spite of impressive efforts from public and private organizations over the last 25 years, agricultural biotechnology has gained relatively little ground in Africa. Using ethnographic research and case studies from across the continent, we argue that a complex choreography of sociopolitical, regulatory, and business conditions is required for agricultural biotechnology projects to ‘succeed’ in Africa. While this choreography is rarely achieved, efforts to bring agricultural biotechnology to the continent have resulted in significant reconfigurations of political, legal, and media landscapes in many African countries. These shifts cry out for more scholarly attention, which we attempt to give here.