Title: Acceptance of modern biotechnology in developing countries: a case study of the Philippines

Authors: Philipp Aerni, Peter Rieder

Addresses: Department of Agricultural Economics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Sonneggstrasse 33, ETH Zentrum, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland. Department of Agricultural Economics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Sonneggstrasse 33, ETH Zentrum, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland

Abstract: Recently, public acceptance of transgenic food has become a political issue, not only in industrialised, but also in developing countries with democratic systems such as India and the Philippines. This article presents a methodology that can be applied to assess public acceptance of agricultural biotechnology in developing countries. In the case of the Philippines, a survey of 65 respondents representing the main stakeholders involved in the public debate on biotechnology was conducted using a semi-standardised questionnaire. Perception patterns among the participants were evaluated by means of a cluster and a principal component analysis. The political weight attributed to each stakeholder was defined by applying a policy network analysis. The findings indicate that public acceptance of transgenic food crops is also a critical issue in the Philippines.

Keywords: public acceptance; biotechnology; food security; Philippines; policy networks; perception patterns.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBT.2000.000122

International Journal of Biotechnology, 2000 Vol.2 No.1/2/3, pp.115-131

Published online: 13 Jul 2003 *

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