Lecture series on the LUCID project: GM corn production in the Philippine uplands, a tale of two varieties

The Department of Economics of the School of Social Sciences-Ateneo de Manila University and ESSC offer the second lecture in a series of three with the topic GM corn production in the Philippine uplands: A tale of two varieties to be discussed by Clarice Colleen Manuel, the PhD scholar under the LUCID project, on 14 October 2022, 5:00 pm to 6:30 pm.

This second lecture discusses the long presence of genetically modified (GM) corn in the Philippines and how this research provides an analytical update on the performance of GM corn relative to currently cultivated varieties to help farmers make informed decisions about adopting.

The LUCID project lecture series features the research of scholars and development practitioners from the Philippines and Belgium in the fields of geoinformatics, development economics, and philosophy. The first lecture was held on 20 September 2022 where Andres Ignacio, PhD, ESSC Planning Director and Geomatics Manager, spoke on land use impact assessment and how the use of various geomatics technologies such as GIS and remote sensing is used in understanding social justice questions.

The LUCID project is a multi-disciplinary research collaboration between ESSC and its long-time Belgian university partners, Université de Namur and Université Catholique de Louvain, together with Ateneo de Manila University and Central Mindanao University as local partners, and with the support of l’Académie de recherche et d’enseignement supérieur  (ARES) of the Belgian government.

The LUCID project is designed to investigate the socio-economic dynamics and social justice implications of corn cultivation in the Philippines. The five-year project seeks to understand the dynamics of farmer-level decision making in the context of local opportunities and threats in corn cultivation. It also seeks to look at the issues under the lens of social justice and philosophy and how the unequal distribution of wealth and opportunities are perpetuated by a small group of rich people who take advantage of supplier perks and discounts while imposing high interest rates on farmers.

The lecture can be accessed here.