Today, approximately 1 billion people live in chronic hunger, and more than 1 billion live in extreme poverty. Many are small farmers in the developing world, whose success or failure determines whether they are able to feed and care for their families.
Having enough nutritious food to feed a growing population is a complex challenge; there’s no silver bullet. That’s why we take a long-term, comprehensive approach that includes quality seeds and healthy soil, as well as good farm management techniques, access to markets, and effective policies.
In helping small farmers improve their productivity and nutrition through improved seeds, the foundation does not advocate any particular scientific method. We strongly believe in advocating for farmers and giving them a voice and a choice in these decisions. Therefore, we support a range of crop breeding techniques so farmers have options and can choose what’s right for them. These techniques include conventional breeding; an advanced breeding technique called marker-assisted breeding; and, in some of our grants, transgenic approaches, which are sometimes referred to as genetic modification. While the latter approach is a small part of our portfolio, representing about 6 percent of our investments in agriculture and nutrition, it is one that we believe has promise.
We realize there are concerns about funding research into genetically modified crops, and we understand these concerns. We are resolute in our long-term commitment to working with grantees, governments, and farmers to ensure these new varieties effectively deliver the benefits intended and are safe for farmers, consumers, and the environment. Here are six reasons we fund research in this area.
Transgenic approaches offer promising solutions to farmers facing difficult growing conditions.
Quality seeds are key to a good harvest. Farmers need seeds that grow well in harsh environments, where drought can be common and a variety of diseases and pests plague crops. Many of the staple crops that small farmers in the developing world grow and rely on as their main source of calories offer little nutritional value.
Sometimes genetic modification can address the challenges facing small farmers faster and more efficiently than conventional breeding alone.
One example is disease-resistant cassava. Cassava, the major staple crop for 250 million people in Africa, is being threatened by the rapid spread of Cassava Brown Streak Disease (CBSD). We’re funding the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and others to investigate ways to limit the devastating effect of this disease on farmers and their families. When CBSD hits, farmers can lose their entire crop, leaving their families hungry. While conventional breeding is making some headway, genetic modification can offer additional solutions to combating CBSD, as well as other destructive viruses and pests.
Drought is another complicated and urgent problem. Maize is the most widely grown staple crop in Africa, where more than 300 million people depend on it as their main source of food.
In one of the foundation’s grants, conventional breeding has proven effective in breeding drought-tolerant varieties of maize. We are also funding research to determine if adding genetic modification can bolster that even further.
Through a grant to the Nairobi-based African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF), we are funding research to develop additional drought-tolerant maize varieties. This grant is funding work with national research organizations in five African countries and uses conventional breeding, marker-assisted breeding, and genetic modification to develop these new varieties.
The new varieties are being developed to increase yields under moderate drought, compared to varieties available to farmers today. Modest yield gains could mean an additional 2 million tons of maize during drought years, which could feed 14 million to 21 million people.
It could help improve the health of millions.
Micronutrient malnutrition is an enormous problem in the developing world. Without reliable access to nutritious food, 2 billion people suffer from the effects of micronutrient malnutrition, which lowers disease resistance, damages cognitive development, and reduces the likelihood that mothers survive childbirth. Increasing the nutrition content of staple crops like rice, sweet potato, and cassava that feed poor people in the developing world has the potential to improve the health and well-being of millions.
While breeding for enhanced nutrition can be done through conventional methods, in some cases, genetic modification is the best or only way. This is the case with Golden Rice. Vitamin A is sorely lacking in the diets of millions of people who eat rice daily, resulting in serious health impacts. In Southeast Asia alone, more than 90 million children suffer from vitamin A deficiency. Since rice contains negligible amounts of beta carotene, which the body converts to vitamin A, genetic modification is required to boost micronutrient levels. Research in the Philippines and Bangladesh is enhancing local varieties of rice with beta carotene. Golden Rice could have enormous societal and economic benefits. Every year, Golden Rice could save more than 85,000 years of healthy life for people in the Philippines—the equivalent of more than 1,000 lives saved every year. In addition, it could add a half a billion U.S. dollars to the Philippine economy every year.
Enhancing staple crops is just one approach to addressing malnutrition. The foundation uses multiple approaches to address this issue.
New varieties will be affordable to small farmers in the developing world.
We require all grantees to develop plans that specify how they will ensure that tools or knowledge created with foundation funding will be made available—at affordable prices—to people most in need in the developing world. In our crop breeding work, that means that seeds developed by these projects will be available royalty-free to farmers, who will not have to pay any additional fees to use them. It also means that farmers can save and re-use seeds and freely share planting material.
Scientific research shows no confirmed cases of harm to human health or the environment.
Genetically modified crops are heavily studied and tested to ensure their food and environmental safety. The safety of such crops currently on the market has been reviewed and affirmed by dozens of scientific bodies around the world, including the European Commission, World Health Organization, the U.K. Royal Society, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and the national science academies of France and India, among others.
We are committed over the long term to support the development and promotion of policies and regulations for new agricultural products. We do this in a number of ways. First, we include funding in individual grants to address these issues. In addition, we are helping African regulators access the most up-to-date training, data, and resources needed to properly regulate biotechnologies through our support of the African Union-led African Biosafety Network of Expertise. All our grantees are required to work within the regulations and laws of the countries where they operate.
These crops offer direct benefits to people and the environment.
Some genetically modified crops have a “built-in” resistance to insects and pests, which can have a variety of environmental and economic benefits.
In China, for example, small-scale farmers grow most of the cotton, making it the largest producer of cotton in the world. China also uses more pesticides than any other country. One study showed that five years after insect resistant (Bt) varieties of cotton were introduced, yields increased by 10 percent. As farmers were able to use pesticides more judiciously, pesticide use decreased by 62 percent. Reduced pesticide use is also linked to improved health. In the past, farmers often became sick from pesticide application, which is often done without any protective clothing. The study found that only 5 percent to 8 percent of Bt cotton farmers became sick, compared to 22 percent to 29 percent of farmers who planted non-Bt cotton or a combination of the two varieties. Finally, the boost in yields directly translated to increased farmer incomes and a national net income increase of $1.8 billion a year in rural areas alone.
Local involvement and farmer choice are project cornerstones.
Nationally based research organizations and farmers are deeply involved in all of our crop breeding grants. Local research organizations participate in a range of activities, including breeding the identified beneficial traits into local varieties, field testing, conducting evaluations, and seed multiplication and distribution. National governments are essential in developing policies and regulations that ensure the safety and effectiveness of these varieties.
Farmers play a very important role in all of our crop breeding work. They are instrumental in selecting the varieties of seeds that are grown and making sure they taste and cook in ways that are appealing to them and their families.
Ultimately, we believe countries and farmers should have the opportunity to choose from a variety of options and decide what’s right for them.