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Biotechnology Conference: Conference on Biotechnology Draws 400 Participants
There is considerable debate in both the media and academic circles about the risks and benefits of modern agricultural biotechnology. Most of this debate relates to the commercial cultivation of genetically modified crop varieties in the industrialized world. So far, very little attention has focused on the role that biotechnology might play in the developing countries, or how it might benefit poor farmers and consumers in those countries.
To help fill this knowledge gap, the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences jointly convened a conference entitled “Ensuring Food Security, Protecting the Environment, and Reducing Poverty in Developing Countries: Can Biotechnology Help?” The gathering, held October 25–29, 1999 at World Bank headquarters, attracted over 400 participants. Those attending—from both the industrialized and the developing world—included scientists, policymakers, industry and nongovernmental organization (NGO) representatives, and farmers.
Panels at the conference addressed such topics as potential risks to the environment and human health, policy and ethical issues, the roles of the public and private sectors, intellectual property issues, and communications issues related to addressing public con-cerns. There were also break-out sessions that addressed questions specific to the various regions of the developing world.
IFPRI Director General Per Pinstrup-Andersen was the lead speaker on a panel on “Risk and Impact on Social and Economic Order.” His talk, “Modern Biotechnology for Food and Agriculture—Social and Economic Risks and Benefits for Low-Income People in Developing Countries” addressed the potential benefits to poor farmers and consumers in developing countries, such as drought- and pest-tolerant crops, agricultural productivity gains, and more nutritious crops.
At the same time, Pinstrup-Andersen stressed the need for appropriate institutional safeguards to minimize a range of risks. In addition to testing and public policy regulations to protect the environment and human health, his paper addressed socioeconomic risks, such as industrial concentration, and the need for policies that ensure that poor farmers are able to gain access to new technologies. He emphasized that without a substantial public sector role in agricultural biotechnology research, it is unlikely that much attention will be given to the crops and cropping systems most relevant to poor farmers and consumers, as these do not promise the private sector a sufficient return to cover the needed research and development investment.
Pinstrup-Andersen’s presentation was followed by responses from Bongiwe Njobe-Mbuli, the director general of South Africa’s Department of Agriculture; Professor Alain de Janvry of the University of California at Berkley and a member of the CGIAR Technical Advisory Committee; and Jean Marc Von der Weid, director of ASPT-A, a Brazilian NGO that works with poor farmers on agroecological projects. Von der Weid is a member of the CGIAR NGO Committee.
The panel presentations and floor discussions stimulated a wide range of views as to the potential risks and benefits of biotechnology for sustainable food security in developing countries. In addition to providing a forum for dialogue and lively exchange of views, the conference recommended key areas in which the CGIAR should become engaged: facilitating information gathering and sharing, identifying problems and setting priorities, helping to build national capacity, helping ensure compliance with biosafety standards (such as efforts to minimize health and environmental risks), and managing intellectual property where appropriate.
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