Matthew A Schnurr
Biographic Data
| ID | 96479 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Matthew A Schnurr |
| GIVEN NAMES | Matthew A |
| FAMILY NAME | Schnurr |
| SIGNATURE | SCHNURR M A |
| AFFILIATIONS | Dalhousie University |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-7560-3437 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 35 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 126 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 34 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2006 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Seas of unfreedom: A scoping review of labour exploitation as a structural feature of global fisheries
From negotiated to covert: Married women’s agency in staple crop value chains in Kenya, Ghana, South Africa and Uganda
This article examines married women’s agency in marketing and income use for staple crops grown on jointly held fields in four African countries: cowpea in Ghana, maize in South Africa and Kenya, and matooke banana in Uganda. The article is based on a series of workshops in each country in which small-scale farmers participated in focus group discussions and a participatory mapping of value chains. Our results show that in Ghana and South Africa,…
Citizens as consumers: Styles of Reasoning About Agricultural Biotechnologies and Publics
The future is only the beginning
Recent advancements in genome editing have captured the attention of scientists and policymakers, who contend that the technology has a large role to play in advancing food and climate security on the African continent. However, the modest results of earlier generations of biotechnology—such as genetically modified (GM) crops—raise questions about the sustainability of new technological interventions. This special feature examines lessons learned…
The gendered value chain of matooke banana and its implications for tissue culture adoption in Uganda
Tissue culture banana is promoted as a form of micro-propagation that can aid farmers in managing pests and disease in Uganda, the country with the largest per capita consumption of banana in the world. But uptake amongst smallholder farmers remains low. This study recruited 71 farmers from five banana-growing districts in Uganda to assess how gender dynamics of matooke production impact the adoption and sustained use of tissue culture. We collab…
The knowledge politics of genome editing in Africa
How is the promise of crop genome editing viewed by scientists working with or aspiring to work with the technology, by development experts seeking to mold public perceptions and policy attitudes toward genome editing, and by donors that provide funds for genome-editing research for agricultural applications in sub-Saharan Africa? In this article, we present data from interviews with these stakeholders to shed light on their aspirations, concerns…
Siloed discourses: A year-long study of twitter engagement on the use of CRISPR in food and agriculture
Gene editing technologies are emerging as powerful tools for agricultural development, spurring both hopes and concerns in society. To understand emerging discourses and coalitions around the role of CRISPR gene editing in food and agriculture we map the main actors and themes emerging from English-speaking Twitter networks over the course of one year (2021). Scientific actors are the most active and best networked in the debate. They promote a p…
Governing Agricultural Biotechnologies in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany: A Trans-decadal Study of Regulatory Cultures
Comparative studies of agricultural biotechnology regulation have highlighted differences in the roles that science and politics play in decision-making. Drawing on documentary and interview evidence in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany, we consider how the "regulatory cultures" that guided national responses to earlier generations of agricultural biotechnology have developed, alongside the emergence of genome editing in food cro…
Beyond the Genome: Genetically Modified Crops in Africa and the Implications for Genome Editing
Genome editing - a plant-breeding technology that facilitates the manipulation of genetic traits within living organisms - has captured the imagination of scholars and professionals working on agricultural development in Africa. Echoing the arrival of genetically modified (GM) crops decades ago, genome editing is being heralded as a technology with the potential to revolutionize breeding based on enhanced precision, reduced cost and increased spe…
Are genetically modified and genome-edited crops viable strategies for climate-change adaptation among smallholder farmers
Anticipating farmer outcomes of three genetically modified staple crops in sub-Saharan Africa: Insights from farming systems research
Women’s Empowerment in Africa: Critical Reflections on the Abbreviated Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (A-Weai)
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Young People’s Perceptions of Identities in a Rural Oil and Gas Town Experiencing Boom-Bust Economic Cycles
Social-ecological resilience through a biocultural lens: A Participatory Methodology to Support Global Targets and Local Priorities
Ungar, M., J. McRuer, X. Liu, L. Theron, D. Blais, and M. A. Schnurr. 2020. Social-ecological resilience through a biocultural lens: a participatory methodology to support global targets and local priorities. Ecology and Society 25(3):8. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-11621-250308
Limits to biofortification: Farmer perspectives on a vitamin A enriched Banana in Uganda
Biofortifying staple crops with enhanced nutritional content has been touted as a means of addressing micronutrient deficiency and has emerged as a key component of the Green Revolution for Africa (GR4A). In Uganda, biofortification efforts have centered on utilizing genetic modification (GM) as a means of enhancing the East African Highland Banana, known locally as matooke. This paper draws on three data sets to evaluate whether this technologic…
Can genetically modified crops help the poor? Incomplete answers to a flawed question
Can Genetically Modified (GM) crops help the poor? This question brought together 30 experts for a three-day workshop in the fall of 2015, hosted at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Co
GMOs and poverty: Yield gaps, differentiated impacts and the search for alternative questions
This short commentary reflects on the question: Can genetically modified (GM) crops help the poor? It aims not to provide a definitive answer but rather to grapple with the question itself, in the hope of illuminating some of the critical assumptions and values that shape exchanges on this polarising and politicised question
Briefing: Burkina Faso's reversal on genetically modified cotton and the implications for Africa
Can Genetically Modified (GM) crops help smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa? To date, only two GM crops – insect-resistant forms of cotton and maize – have made it into the hands of African farmers. Of these, GM cotton has the longest empirical track record, having been the first GM crop ever introduced in Africa, and the only one that has been grown in multiple countries – first South Africa, then Burkina Faso.1 The performance of this cr…
Interrogating the technocratic (neoliberal) agenda for agricultural development and hunger alleviation in Africa
This paper introduces a special issue that critically examines the dominant technocratic, neoliberal agenda for agricultural development and hunger alleviation in Africa. We briefly review the history of African agricultural and food security policy in the post-colonial period in order to contextualise the productionist approach embedded in the New Green Revolution for Africa, a strategy comprising the use of hybrid seeds, fertilisers, and pestic…
Growing burdens? Disease-resistant genetically modified bananas and the potential gendered implications for labor in Uganda
Introduction to symposium on labor, gender and new sources of agrarian change
No one asks for a meal they’ve never eaten.” Or, do African farmers want genetically modified crops
What do students learn from a role-play simulation of an international negotiation
This article uses pre- and post-surveys to assess learning outcomes associated with a role-play simulation set within a fictionalized extension of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Quantitative and qualitative data suggest that the simulation increased student appreciation of the complexity of international negotiation, but decreased student interest and self-assessment of skill proficiency. These results underscore the learning potential o…
The community versus community-based natural resource management: The case of Ndumo game reserve, South Africa
This article investigates the escalating violence directed by community members towards the Ndumo game reserve in South Africa, which has pitted residents against the reserve they are invested in as owners and managers. We argue that escalating tensions at Ndumo result from three distinct, but interrelated factors: (1) the local community's historical and present day feelings of loss of land, autonomy and “home” as a result of colonial and neolib…
Seeds and places: The geographies of transgenic crops in the global south
Biotechnology and bio-hegemony in Uganda: Unraveling the social relations underpinning the promotion of genetically modified crops into new African markets
This paper aims to uncover the social relations used to promote genetically modified (GM) crops into new African markets. It unravels the network of corporate actors, development agencies, policy officials, and research scientists that support the unquestioned dominance of GM in Uganda, which houses one of the largest experimental program dedicated to agricultural biotechnology on the continent. Gramscian insights reveal how these constellations …
Inventing Makhathini: Creating a prototype for the dissemination of genetically modified crops into Africa
What do students learn from a role-play simulation of an international negotiation
This article uses pre- and post-surveys to assess learning outcomes associated with a role-play simulation set within a fictionalized extension of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Quantitative and qualitative data suggest that the simulation increased student appreciation of the complexity of international negotiation, but decreased student interest and self-assessment of skill proficiency. These results underscore the learning potential o…
Using a Blended Learning Approach to Simulate the Negotiation of a Multilateral Environmental Agreement
Journal Article Using a Blended Learning Approach to Simulate the Negotiation of a Multilateral Environmental Agreement Get access Matthew A. Schnurr, Matthew A. Schnurr Dalhousie University Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Elizabeth De Santo, Elizabeth De Santo Dalhousie University Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Rachael Craig Rachael Craig Dalhousie University Sear…
Can the Poor Help GM Crops? Technology, representation & cotton in the Makhathini flats, South Africa
The adoption of Genetically Modified (GM) cotton in South Africa's Makhathini Flats in 1998 was heralded as a case in which agricultural biotechnology could benefit smallholder farmers, and a model for the rest of the continent to follow. Using historical, political economic and ethnographic data, we find the initial enthusiasm around GM technology to be misguided. We argue that Makhathini's structured institutional framework privileges adopters …
Briefing: Burkina Faso's reversal on genetically modified cotton and the implications for Africa
Can Genetically Modified (GM) crops help smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa? To date, only two GM crops – insect-resistant forms of cotton and maize – have made it into the hands of African farmers. Of these, GM cotton has the longest empirical track record, having been the first GM crop ever introduced in Africa, and the only one that has been grown in multiple countries – first South Africa, then Burkina Faso.1 The performance of this cr…
Introduction to symposium on labor, gender and new sources of agrarian change
Seeds and places: The geographies of transgenic crops in the global south
Limits to biofortification: Farmer perspectives on a vitamin A enriched Banana in Uganda
Biofortifying staple crops with enhanced nutritional content has been touted as a means of addressing micronutrient deficiency and has emerged as a key component of the Green Revolution for Africa (GR4A). In Uganda, biofortification efforts have centered on utilizing genetic modification (GM) as a means of enhancing the East African Highland Banana, known locally as matooke. This paper draws on three data sets to evaluate whether this technologic…
Growing burdens? Disease-resistant genetically modified bananas and the potential gendered implications for labor in Uganda
Cultivating the Colonies: Colonial States and Their Environmental Legacies
Breeding for insect-resistant cotton across imperial networks, 1924–1950
Anticipating farmer outcomes of three genetically modified staple crops in sub-Saharan Africa: Insights from farming systems research
Women’s Empowerment in Africa: Critical Reflections on the Abbreviated Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (A-Weai)
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Social-ecological resilience through a biocultural lens: A Participatory Methodology to Support Global Targets and Local Priorities
Ungar, M., J. McRuer, X. Liu, L. Theron, D. Blais, and M. A. Schnurr. 2020. Social-ecological resilience through a biocultural lens: a participatory methodology to support global targets and local priorities. Ecology and Society 25(3):8. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-11621-250308
No one asks for a meal they’ve never eaten.” Or, do African farmers want genetically modified crops
GMOs and poverty: Yield gaps, differentiated impacts and the search for alternative questions
This short commentary reflects on the question: Can genetically modified (GM) crops help the poor? It aims not to provide a definitive answer but rather to grapple with the question itself, in the hope of illuminating some of the critical assumptions and values that shape exchanges on this polarising and politicised question
Citizens as consumers: Styles of Reasoning About Agricultural Biotechnologies and Publics
Are genetically modified and genome-edited crops viable strategies for climate-change adaptation among smallholder farmers
Can genetically modified crops help the poor? Incomplete answers to a flawed question
Can Genetically Modified (GM) crops help the poor? This question brought together 30 experts for a three-day workshop in the fall of 2015, hosted at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Co
Can the Poor Help GM Crops? Technology, representation & cotton in the Makhathini flats, South Africa
The adoption of Genetically Modified (GM) cotton in South Africa's Makhathini Flats in 1998 was heralded as a case in which agricultural biotechnology could benefit smallholder farmers, and a model for the rest of the continent to follow. Using historical, political economic and ethnographic data, we find the initial enthusiasm around GM technology to be misguided. We argue that Makhathini's structured institutional framework privileges adopters …
Commodity Cropping and the Delineation of Agricultural Space in Natal, 1850–1863
This article recounts the efforts of Natal's first Secretary for Native Affairs, Theophilus Shepstone, to introduce cotton as a commodity crop among the colony's Zulu population. Generally considered as a response to Britain's dwindling supply of raw cotton, I argue that this push for cotton was fuelled by motivations that were political more than agricultural; that cotton was first and foremost about delineating African and settler space and est…
Breeding for insect-resistant cotton across imperial networks, 1924–1950
The Boom and Bust of Zululand Cotton, 1910-1933
This article investigates the boom and bust of the largest cotton surge in South African history, which occurred in the years following Union. Cotton figured as a preferred crop within emerging national agricultural policy because it accorded with the political and ideological priorities of the new white settler state. By the late 1920s, however, cotton was in trouble, especially in the key Zululand growing area. There were two reasons for this d…
Natural Resources and Social Conflict: Towards Critical Environmental Security
This volume brings together international scholars reflecting on the theory and practice of international security, human security, natural resources and environmental change. It contributes by 'centr
Using a Blended Learning Approach to Simulate the Negotiation of a Multilateral Environmental Agreement
Journal Article Using a Blended Learning Approach to Simulate the Negotiation of a Multilateral Environmental Agreement Get access Matthew A. Schnurr, Matthew A. Schnurr Dalhousie University Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Elizabeth De Santo, Elizabeth De Santo Dalhousie University Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Rachael Craig Rachael Craig Dalhousie University Sear…
Cultivating the Colonies: Colonial States and Their Environmental Legacies
Inventing Makhathini: Creating a prototype for the dissemination of genetically modified crops into Africa
The community versus community-based natural resource management: The case of Ndumo game reserve, South Africa
This article investigates the escalating violence directed by community members towards the Ndumo game reserve in South Africa, which has pitted residents against the reserve they are invested in as owners and managers. We argue that escalating tensions at Ndumo result from three distinct, but interrelated factors: (1) the local community's historical and present day feelings of loss of land, autonomy and “home” as a result of colonial and neolib…
Seeds and places: The geographies of transgenic crops in the global south
Biotechnology and bio-hegemony in Uganda: Unraveling the social relations underpinning the promotion of genetically modified crops into new African markets
This paper aims to uncover the social relations used to promote genetically modified (GM) crops into new African markets. It unravels the network of corporate actors, development agencies, policy officials, and research scientists that support the unquestioned dominance of GM in Uganda, which houses one of the largest experimental program dedicated to agricultural biotechnology on the continent. Gramscian insights reveal how these constellations …
Cotton as calamitous commodity: The politics of agricultural failure in Natal and Zululand, 1844-1933
This article follows the efforts of white settlers to impose cotton as an export crop in Natal and Zululand. Touted as a commodity capable of remaking land and life in the region in the 1850s, the 1860s, and again in the 1910s and 1920s, cotton never achieved more than marginal status in the region's agricultural economy. Its story is one of historical amnesia: although faith in the region's cotton prospects dipped following each spectacular fail…
No one asks for a meal they’ve never eaten.” Or, do African farmers want genetically modified crops
What do students learn from a role-play simulation of an international negotiation
This article uses pre- and post-surveys to assess learning outcomes associated with a role-play simulation set within a fictionalized extension of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Quantitative and qualitative data suggest that the simulation increased student appreciation of the complexity of international negotiation, but decreased student interest and self-assessment of skill proficiency. These results underscore the learning potential o…
Interrogating the technocratic (neoliberal) agenda for agricultural development and hunger alleviation in Africa
This paper introduces a special issue that critically examines the dominant technocratic, neoliberal agenda for agricultural development and hunger alleviation in Africa. We briefly review the history of African agricultural and food security policy in the post-colonial period in order to contextualise the productionist approach embedded in the New Green Revolution for Africa, a strategy comprising the use of hybrid seeds, fertilisers, and pestic…
Growing burdens? Disease-resistant genetically modified bananas and the potential gendered implications for labor in Uganda
Introduction to symposium on labor, gender and new sources of agrarian change
Briefing: Burkina Faso's reversal on genetically modified cotton and the implications for Africa
Can Genetically Modified (GM) crops help smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa? To date, only two GM crops – insect-resistant forms of cotton and maize – have made it into the hands of African farmers. Of these, GM cotton has the longest empirical track record, having been the first GM crop ever introduced in Africa, and the only one that has been grown in multiple countries – first South Africa, then Burkina Faso.1 The performance of this cr…
Can genetically modified crops help the poor? Incomplete answers to a flawed question
Can Genetically Modified (GM) crops help the poor? This question brought together 30 experts for a three-day workshop in the fall of 2015, hosted at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Co
GMOs and poverty: Yield gaps, differentiated impacts and the search for alternative questions
This short commentary reflects on the question: Can genetically modified (GM) crops help the poor? It aims not to provide a definitive answer but rather to grapple with the question itself, in the hope of illuminating some of the critical assumptions and values that shape exchanges on this polarising and politicised question
Young People’s Perceptions of Identities in a Rural Oil and Gas Town Experiencing Boom-Bust Economic Cycles
Social-ecological resilience through a biocultural lens: A Participatory Methodology to Support Global Targets and Local Priorities
Ungar, M., J. McRuer, X. Liu, L. Theron, D. Blais, and M. A. Schnurr. 2020. Social-ecological resilience through a biocultural lens: a participatory methodology to support global targets and local priorities. Ecology and Society 25(3):8. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-11621-250308
Limits to biofortification: Farmer perspectives on a vitamin A enriched Banana in Uganda
Biofortifying staple crops with enhanced nutritional content has been touted as a means of addressing micronutrient deficiency and has emerged as a key component of the Green Revolution for Africa (GR4A). In Uganda, biofortification efforts have centered on utilizing genetic modification (GM) as a means of enhancing the East African Highland Banana, known locally as matooke. This paper draws on three data sets to evaluate whether this technologic…
Anticipating farmer outcomes of three genetically modified staple crops in sub-Saharan Africa: Insights from farming systems research
Women’s Empowerment in Africa: Critical Reflections on the Abbreviated Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (A-Weai)
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Political science (23 works) · Economics (22 works) · Geography (21 works) · Sociology (18 works) · Biology (16 works) · Agriculture (15 works) · Genetically Modified Organisms Research (14 works) · Law (13 works) · CRISPR and Genetic Engineering (10 works) · Politics (10 works)