Bridges Trade BioRes • Volume 7 • Number 2 • 2nd February 2007

Opinions Clash Over GM Crops

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The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA), an industry-supported group, recently released their annual report on genetically modified (GM) crops, predicting a substantial increase in Asia. Scheduled to coincide with the ISAAA release, environmental group Friends of the Earth (FOE) published a new report highlighting the failure of GM technology to perform.

The ISAAA annual report outlined growth in the adoption of GM technology among developing country farmers. Clive James, the chair of ISAAA, said “More than 90 percent or 9.3 million farmers growing biotech crops last year were small, resource-poor farmers from the developing world, allowing biotechnology to make a modest contribution to the alleviation of their poverty.” According to the report, GM uptake is growing more rapidly in developing than in developed countries, and 40 percent of GM crops are now grown in the developing world.

The ISAAA report also highlighted biofuels as a growth area for biotechnology. According to ISAAA, “Biotech crops will be used to increase the efficiency and meet added demand for alternative energy, as well as exploring biotech options to bring cellulose-based ethanol from energy crops to market.”

According to the FOE report entitled “Who Benefits From GM Crops? An Analysis of the Global Performance of Genetically Modified (GM) Crops 1996-2006,” not only is 70 percent of global GM production still limited to the US and Argentina, but the technology has also failed to address productivity issues in developing countries. “No GM crop on the market today offers benefits to the consumer in terms of quality or price, and to date these crops have done nothing to alleviate hunger or poverty in Africa or elsewhere,” said Nnimmo Bassey of FOE Africa.

“Global Biotech Area Surges Past 100 Million Hectares on 13 Percent Growth,” ISAAA, 18 January 2007; “Asia to drive growth of GMO crops in next decade,” CHECKBIOTECH, 30 January 2007; “Biotech crops increase globally, led by Asia, says report,” TRUTH ABOUT TRADE & TECHNOLOGY, 25 January 2007; “New report: GM crops still not performing,” Friends of Earth International, 8 January 2007.