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is highly valuable precisely because of its multiple characteristics and uses.
Typically, a flex crop straddles multiple commodity sectors (food, feed, fuel,
other industrial commodities); geographical spaces (for example, NorthSouth); and international political economy categories (for example, OECD
countries, non-OECD countries). This makes flex crops very attractive to
growers and buyers around the world insofar as everyone it seems can find a
place in the market. The four key flex crops today are maize, oil palm, soybean
and sugarcane. Important producers and exporters of flex crops and commodities include, for example, Argentina for soya, Malaysia and Indonesia for palm
oil, and Vietnam for fast-growing trees (Borras et al. 2013). One type of crop,
such as fast-growing trees, can be sold as a commodity in respect to diverse
markets, including in this case timber products, biofuel and/or carbon offsets.
Multi-purpose crops exacerbate the push towards fewer varieties. Species
reduction is also associated with ease of production, distribution and marketing. For instance, there is also a trend towards monoculture since uniformity
means ease of cultivation and harvest, translating into higher profits. New
agricultural and pastoral technologies reinforce this broad tendency towards
simplification. The global political economy of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) provides a case in point. Countries that have been reluctant to
adopt genetically modified (GM) crops have been subjected to intense
pressures to do so (Walters 2005, 2011). Ironically, given political claims
that GM crops are vital in order to feed the world, GMO invasion of
endemic species and crops is nonetheless seen to be capable of destroying
unique genotypes, thereby creating the potential to threaten food security
(i.e., diminishing diverse genetic material) (see Engdahl 2007).
The potential size of the problem is considerable as the use of GM crops
has rapidly increased over the past decade.
In 2007, transgenic crops (90 percent of which, it should be recalled, have
genetic traits patented by Monsanto) covered about 250 million acres: more
than half were located in the United States (136.5 million acres), followed by
Argentina (45 million), Brazil (28.8 million), Canada (15.3 million), India (9.5

million), China (8.8 million), Paraguay (5 million), and South Africa (3.5
million). (Robin 2010, p. 4).

Almost all of these crops were ‘legally’ planted, but the genetic and species
consequences of transfer are potentially of a huge scale especially in terms of
negative ecological impact.
Also of concern are those crops which have not been distributed through
legitimate and legal means. For instance, in Mexico traditional corn has been