THE green revolution that boosted farm outputs around much of the world came at a price: millions of the world’s poorest farmers in Africa became poorer. This is the message of a report released this week, commissioned by government-backed international research institutes that sustained the revolution with four decades of scientific breakthroughs.
New rice and wheat varieties produced a grain glut that caused prices to fall, the report says. Farmers who could afford to plant these new varieties made up for lower prices with improved yields, but those who could not lost out. “Some farmers experienced real losses from the…
