Category: Fieldwork

Sharing findings with different audiences

Posted on by joevarock in African Green Revolution, agriculture, Anthropology, Development, Fieldwork, Ghana, GMOs

A few weeks ago, Rachel Schurman and I published The Complex Choreography of Agricultural Biotechnologies in Africa in the journal African Affairs. In the article, we surveyed nearly 30 years of strategic and well-funded efforts by donors to bring GMOs to Africa. These efforts, we contend, have so far yielded very little. How come? We argue that … Continue reading Sharing findings with different audiences →

2018 in Review

Posted on by joevarock in Anthropology, Fieldwork, Food, Ghana, Public, Sensory

It’s December, which means I’ve hit the year anniversary of my defense (wow!) and 2019 is near. I’ve been reflecting on work done the past year – not because productivity is the goal – but because I, like many others, constantly fall into the trap of feeling underproductive and therefore overlooking actual accomplishments. So, I … Continue reading 2018 in Review →

On Farmers as “Very Difficult People”

Posted on by joevarock in African Green Revolution, agriculture, Anthropology, Development, Fieldwork, Ghana, Public

The Ghanaian Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture resigned today after calling northern Ghanaian farmers "liars," "very difficult people," and accusing them of extortion. Many were understandably, and rightfully, upset at the Deputy Minister's comments, but I argue that his comments, though vile, are not exceptional. During fieldwork, I regularly encountered super negative discourse about Ghanaian farmers from technocrats in Accra. In this blog post, I share some of these encounters, and muse about their importance.