The Generic Herbicide Industry: A Global Production Network Analysis

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Economic activity is increasingly organized through geographically distanced but organizationally linked supply chains, or “global production networks.” Little is known of how these networks shape the availability and use of substances that act as key drivers of global environmental change. This project will examine one driver – agrochemicals -- through the lens of production networks. It focuses on herbicides (i.e., weed killers), which are among the most important class of pesticides for many countries. Such countries are fast-growing markets for herbicides and, for the first time, they have become their main producers and exporters. The research will investigate this transformation, and what this means for economic development, farming systems, and access to food. The project works across the economy-ecology divide to create explore relationships between environmental change, agro-food systems, economic development, and human health. The project will develop new tools for sharing results, including an interactive database and map of herbicide regulations around the world. New tools and knowledge about the economic and political forces shaping agrochemicals will be made available to industry, policy makers, and non-governmental organizations involved in the international regulation of pesticides.This research examines the transformative role of new, generic herbicide manufacturing firms as important drivers in these chemicals’ widespread availability and use. These firms form part of a global network of activities that includes raw material extraction, active ingredient production, final product formulation, distribution and use. The research design combines qualitative and quantitative methods to understand how the geography of this network has changed in relation to countries’ levels of development since 2000. It examines how these patterns are shaped by power dynamics among firms, interactions between firms and governments, and the changing nature of herbicides themselves due to weed resistance and public health. Results of this work will inform further research on the industrial side of agricultural intensification and its implications for health and wellbeing, environment, and food security. The project will support further development of economy-ecology approaches to the study of global industries.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.