Globalizations· 2026Q1
Imagery in agricultural aid: an examination of two aid institutions
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- Q1SCImago
- 2026year
Short summary
Agricultural aid institutions IITA and CIP repeatedly use images of people and plants in annual reports to depict improvements, often portraying a "Noble Savage" archetype over decades.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Key points
- IITA and CIP use cover images in annual reports from 1971-2022.
- A visual semiotic methodology was applied to analyze the imagery.
- Institutions repeatedly use images of people and plants to show improvements.
- The imagery often depicts a "Noble Savage" archetype.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
This paper examines how the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and International Potato Center (CIP) of CGIAR utilize images to represent their work in the Third World. The paper considers the cover images of the centres’ annual reports produced between the years 1971 and 2022, applying a visual semiotic methodology common to research on humanitarian aid. In doing so, the paper contrasts the contradictory discursive strategies at work in diverse parts of the aid sector. In the case of IITA and CIP, the paper finds these change agents draw on a repertoire of techniques, compositions, and themes whose repetition both softens and sustains a set of contradictions over decades. Chief among these contradictions is a juxtaposition of people and plants in accounting documents that assert improvements via depictions of a timeless, Noble Savage.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Globalizations, 2026 · DOI ↗
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Field: Development
DevelopmentSocial Sciences