[asia-apec 1594] COUNTERPOINT ON GE FOOD FROM THE WASHINGTON POST

[Anuradha Mittal]

READ THIS POINT-COUNTERPOINT ON GE FOOD FROM THE WASHINGTON POST
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Enough Food for the Whole World

by

ANURADHA MITTAL
Co-Director
Food First/Institute for Food and Development Policy
Oakland, Calif.
http://www.foodfirst.org
Washington Post
Friday, September 15, 2000; Page A26

Hassan Adamu's Sept. 11 op-ed column, "We'll Feed Our People as We See
Fit," would have us believe that biotechnology provides the only hope of 
feeding the burgeoning hungry population in the Third World. But
biotechnology distracts decisionmakers from the more pressing problems 
of alleviating hunger and poverty.

Our research at Food First shows that there is enough food to feed 
everyone in this world: 4.5 pounds of food per person, per day, around 
the world.

The problem is not one of production but of access and distribution.
Seventy-eight percent of countries reporting child malnourishment export 
food.

A third of the world's 800 million hungry live in my country, India, 
where the number of the hungry and malnourished has been steadily 
rising. At the same time India is faced with an unmanageable food glut. 
>From a food grain surplus of 10 million tons in 1999, the stocks have 
multiplied to 42 million tons. Instead of distributing the surplus among 
those who desperately need it, the government either wants to find an 
export market or release it in the open market.

How will biotechnology provide food to those who are desperately in 
need? Given the high seed cost, and the cost of other inputs that the 
farmers will have to use, the cost of cultivation will go up and so will 
the market price, ultimately subjecting more people to hunger and 
starvation.

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We'll Feed Our People As We See Fit

By Hassan Adamu

Washignton Post
Monday, September 11, 2000; Page A23

It is possible to kill someone with kindness, literally. That could be 
the result of the well-meaning but extremely misguided attempts by 
European and North American groups that are advising Africans to be wary 
of agricultural biotechnology. They claim to have the environment and 
public health at the core of their opposition, but scientific evidence 
disproves their claims that enhanced crops are anything but safe. If we 
take their alarmist warnings to heart, millions of Africans will suffer 
and possibly die.

Agricultural biotechnology, whereby seeds are enhanced to instill 
herbicide tolerance or provide resistance to insects and disease, holds 
great promise for Africa and other areas of the world where 
circumstances such as poverty and poor growing conditions make farming 
difficult. Fertilizer, herbicides, pesticides, machinery, fuel and other 
tools that richer nations take for granted as part of their farming 
regimen are luxuries in poorer countries.

Moreover, the soil in tropical climates, or in areas with inhospitable 
weather, cannot be farmed successfully in the more traditional ways. 
These circumstances demand unique agricultural solutions, and many have 
been made available through the advances of biotechnology.

To deny desperate, hungry people the means to control their futures by 
presuming to know what is best for them is not only paternalistic but 
morally wrong. Certainly, those with fertile lands and an abundance of 
food have every right to decide how they would like to grow their crops 
and process their foods. Organic farming, sophisticated methods of 
distributing food and other approaches are well and good for those who 
can afford to experiment. Starving people do not have this luxury. They 
want food and nourishment, not lectures, and we certainly won't allow 
ourselves to be intimidated by eco-terrorists who destroy test crops and 
disrupt scientific meetings that strive to reveal the facts.

It is wrong and dangerous for a privileged people to presume that they 
know what is best for everyone. And when this happens, it cannot come as 
a shock that those who are imposed upon often see this attitude as 
colonialist.

Millions of Africans--far too many of them children--are suffering from 
malnutrition and hunger. Agricultural biotechnology offers a way to stop 
the suffering. As Florence Wambugu, one of Africa's leading plant 
geneticists said recently, "In Africa, GM [genetically modified] food 
could almost literally weed out poverty."

With regard to agricultural biotechnology, Africans are not asking for 
others to come in and grow our food. We are not asking for others to 
provide the financial means to establish this system in our countries. 
We want to come to the table as stakeholders. We know the conditions of 
our fields. We know the threats, the insects and diseases. We can work 
as partners to develop the seeds that could build peoples and nations.

We do not want to be denied this technology because of a misguided 
notion that we don't understand the dangers or the future consequences. 
We understand. We understand that this system must continue to undergo 
study and careful use. We also understand that agricultural 
biotechnology has been deemed safe and nutritious by a host of 
nationally and internationally respected organizations such as the 
National Research Council, Nuffield Council on Bioethics, World Health 
Organization, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the American 
Medical Association and the American Dietetic Association.

We will proceed carefully and thoughtfully, but we want to have the 
opportunity to save the lives of millions of people and change the 
course of history in many nations. That is our right, and we should not 
be denied by those with a mistaken idea that they know best how everyone 
should live or that they have the right to impose their values on us.

The harsh reality is that, without the help of agricultural 
biotechnology, many will not live.
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The writer is Nigeria's minister of agricultural and rural development.
© 2000 The Washington Post Company

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