Monsanto and smallholder farmers: a case-study on corporate accountability

This paper examines Monsanto’s Smallholder Programme (SHP) and considers the implications of the programme on corporate accountability. The intent of the paper is to evaluate how far this programme confirms or modifies conventional understandings of corporate accountability. This paper shows that the programme was created partly in response to pressure from Monsanto’s critics and anti-biotechnology activists, but also rooted in the company’s strategic determination to commercialise and develop the market for genetically modified (GM) crops and other products.