GM crops and food security
Ending African hunger: GM or agro-ecology?
Is biotechnology an effective and safe way to address global hunger?
Authors:
L. Orton
Publisher:
Open Democracy, 2003
This article counters the claim that biotechnology can address hunger in ways that are effective,
affordable and safe. Taking an article by Gordon Conway as a starting point, the author addresses a number of key issues, arguing for the need for great caution before we encourage poor, vulnerable farmers to chance their livelihoods on GM crops.
The author discusses the following questions:
- Who can afford the research on GM?
- Will GM crops really boost productivity?
- Does GM technology meet the needs of poor farmers?
- Who should decide?
The article argues that biotechnology is expensive, genetically-modified (GM) crops often perform poorly, and their safety is not yet proven. The widespread use of GM crops will probably reduce biodiversity, and
intellectual property rights on GM crops threaten ancient practices of saving and exchanging seeds.
The author concludes by arguing that the essential question should be framed as: “What is the best way to tackle hunger?”. This, she argues, would lead us down a different path – away from the high-tech, high-risk, high-cost world of GM towards sustainable, farmer-friendly technologies.
