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 Promote coherence of policies and public information on green biotechCultivation of biotech crops is gaining momentum in the EU and has reached 65 000 hectares in 2006 with 6 European countries cultivating approved biotech crops (Portugal, Spain, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia and France) 13. With improvements in policies, there is great potential for further opportunities for biotech crops in the EU. However, the ambivalent position of the EU hinders such opportunities and negatively influences developing countries from the adoption of biotech crops. In 2006, 90% of the farmers who benefited from biotech crops were resource poor farmers from developing countries, whose increased income from these crops contributed to the alleviation of poverty 14. As the UN Human Development Report stated “Opposition in richer countries to biotech crops may set back the ability of the poorest nations to feed growing populations… The world’s richest nations must get over their fear of genetically engineered food if they want to help eradicate poverty in the world’s poorest countries”. A number of internationally recognized reports, including the 2002 FAO report 16, state that agricultural biotechnology has a definite role to play in combating world hunger. The United Nations Development Programme stated that “Biotechnology offers the only, or the best “tool of choice” for marginal ecological zones-left behind by the green revolution but home to more than half of the world’s poorest people, dependent on agriculture and life stocks. 17” Refusals to accept food aid containing GM traces and such exemplifies the perception that Europe’s perceived “ambivalent position” negatively influences developing countries in their attitude towards agricultural biotechnology. Suggested solutions 1. The European Union as a whole should nurture and promote coherent pro-development policy that does not discriminate promising technology. 2. At the same time, Europe’s political leadership should openly communicate its support for the policies it has agreed on so as to correctly reflect the trust it has in its own regulatory system and the products approved through this system. |
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13 ISAAA Brief 35 Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops: 2006 14 ISAAA Brief 35 Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops: 2006 15 United Nations Organisation Human Development Report Increasingly, EU governments are taking a proactive approach so that their policies positively affect particularly African, development. 16 “Biotechnology provides powerful tools for the sustainable development of agriculture, fisheries and forestry, as well as the food industry. When appropriately integrated with other technologies for the production of food, agricultural products and services, biotechnology can be of significant assistance in meeting the needs of an expanding and increasingly urbanized population in the next millennium. FAO recognizes that genetic engineering has the potential to help increase production and productivity in agriculture, forestry and fisheries. It could lead to higher yields on marginal lands in countries that today cannot grow enough food to feed their people”. 17 United Nations Development Programme, Human Development Report of 2001 |
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