Europe, Africa and Golden Rice

Stravo · Post by **Stravo** » 2003-07-19 09:32pm

LET AFRICA GROW 'GOLDEN' RICE

By FRANCIS NANG'AYO

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July 19, 2003 -- THE focus of Americans in the aftermath of President Bush's trip to Africa naturally is the prospect of U.S. troops being sent to Liberia. But for most people on my continent, the primary question is whether his visit ultimately will help advance the debate over biotechnology and genetically modified foods, which have been stymied in Africa by Europe's objections to them.

Per Pinstrup-Andersen of the International Food Policy Institute said recently at a Congressional Hunger Center: "We need to talk about the low-income farmer in Africa who, on. . . maybe an . . . acre of land, is trying to feed her five children in the face of recurrent droughts, recurrent insect attacks, recurrent diseases. For her, losing a crop may mean losing a child. Now, how can we sit here debating whether she should have access to a drought-tolerant crop variety?"

Africa's population stood at 200 million 30 years ago. It is now 620 million. At the current growth rate, it is projected to increase to 1.3 billion over the next 25 years. Africa adds the equivalent of five Sacramentos every month!

Seventy percent of Africans are farmers who eke out a living from small plots of family gardens with soils depleted from overuse in regions prone to drought, soil erosion and floods. The little that is cultivated must contend with epidemics of pests and diseases. Chemical fertilizers and pesticides are prohibitively expensive and, where used, are not without public and environmental health concerns.

No wonder the African people lack adequate food to eat and surpluses to sell for income. No wonder they suffer from malnutrition. No wonder numerous African children go blind due to vitamin A deficiency.

Europe and America have large food surpluses and enjoy the freedom and luxury of choice never known in Africa. Their genetically modified food fight doesn't mean hunger to their people. But if nothing is done to end their squabble, the number of the poor and hungry in Africa will grow. What is the likelihood that they will be fed?

Molecular biology-based research has developed genetically modified crops with built-in protection against pests and diseases without the need of vast amounts of costly pesticides. One class incorporates an herbicide resistance gene. It allows farmers to spray herbicide on their fields to kill weeds, such as Striga, or purple witchweed, that infests the root systems of cereal crops, stunting their growth and leading to crops being lost.

In addition to creating pest and herbicide-resistant plants, genetically-modified technology can also produce plants with improved nutritional qualities.

One of the most exciting developments so far has been the introduction of genes into rice that result in enhanced supply of Vitamin A and iron. This "golden" rice would thus fight both childhood blindness and anemia and reduce maternal mortality and morbidity.

No technology is absolutely risk free. But Europe's threat to close its markets to African produce if genetically modified crops are introduced won't promote safety. Only an exploration of relative benefits and risks can protect consumers and ensure the needs of the world's poor are met.

As a scientist, I have yet to find any shred of evidence suggesting that foods on the market today are unsafe to eat as a result of genetic engineering. As University of California biologist Martina McGlooughlin rightly observed, "Biotech products go through a more thorough testing than conventional food ever has been subjected to . . . and no product of conventional breeding could meet the data requirements imposed on biotech products by regulatory agencies prior to approval."

The impact of biotechnology on food production, post-harvest losses and nutritional value of food could improve the lives and livelihoods of millions of poor people. It would be unethical to condemn millions to hunger by denying them access to development and technology simply because some activists imagine it is risky. Now that his trip is over, we can only hope President Bush continues to press for acceptance of a technology with the potential to save countless African lives.

Dr. Francis Nang'ayo, a principal research scientist in the Biotechnology Research Programme at the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, is a contributing writer to TechCentralStation.com.

An interesting article on a subject that I have grown intersted in since learning of this controversy. The almost irrational fear that the EU has of genetically engineered food (BTW I have a sneaking suspicion that French farmers are somehow behind this) and the resulting ripple effect that it has to such places as Africa that desperately need the benefits that genetically engineered crops brings. Africa is precsiely the place such crops were designed for.

Illuminatus Primus · Post by **Illuminatus Primus** » 2003-07-19 09:42pm

What did anyone expect? Surely no one believes only America has irrational fearmongering idiots.

For some reason this organic-environmental bullshit is pissing me off. We're on the verge of a new energy crisis with little on the horizon--we need nuclear dammit! Its efficient, it works for Japan, and is relatively safe. But no, the hyped up bullshit about anything with the word "nuclear" (see Casini probe; why did Kaku protest?!) prevents it.

I have a finger for neo-hippie assholes. It is between my ring and index fingers. Take a guess, it'll be in plain view.

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2003-07-19 10:32pm

God, stupidity is bad enough, but when people have to DIE because of it, it's even worse. The fuckers that have been holding up the use of this technology because of the paranoid bullshit need to be locked in a room and fucking starved to death to pay for their crimes.

Newtonian Fury · Post by **Newtonian Fury** » 2003-07-19 11:42pm

Stravo wrote:Africa is precsiely the place such crops were designed for.

Not only that, these crops can benefit developed nations as well.

In terms of progress, farmlands don't do much. They're vital in feeding a nation, yes, but they don't contribute beyond that. Robust, high-yield crops will further the reduction in space needed for farmlands, allowing even more development.

Of course, backward nations without access to multi-million dollar farm equipments will benefit from this directly.

On another note, I've always found arguments attacking GE crops' safety to be very irritating. My mom works for crop sciences in a university (a head research scientist), and the department works closely with state farmers. From farmers' experiences, insect resistant and herbicide resistant crops probably end up being safer to eat than non-resistant crops. For one thing, farmers do not need to use as much pesticides on these crops to produce a profitable yield. Meaning, less poison on your crops. Also, newer generations of herbicides are much less toxic to humans (yet much more efficient) than their predecessors, so developing crops resistant to these new generation herbicides is a very good idea. The boycott of Roundup Ready plants was a significant blow to the GE industries.

I know many anti-GE people are saying, "Why take the chance? We don't need tougher, more efficient crops to be able to feed ourselves." They always ignore the fact that many people in the world do go hungry regularly.

An aside: There is one type of genetic engineered crop I am against, and it's the "self-destructing" type. These are crops that are engineered so that they produce a toxin that kills their own seeds. Essentially, the farmer can't grow a 2nd generation of crops; they must buy from company again. While there are apocalyptic predictions of this type of gene being spread to all crops, ending in world hunger and death, this is not my primary reason. Rather, I find this business tactic of hooking customers to a product to be rather repulsive when it comes to feeding people in poorer countries.

Xenophobe3691 · Post by **Xenophobe3691** » 2003-07-20 12:03am

From my recent experiences in Europe, I myself have come to the conclusion that Europe isn't afraid of Genetically Engineered crops due to any valid concerns, they're just Anti-American. But if they're gonna let their Anti-American feelings kill off a couple hundred million people, then they deserve to get their collective erogenous zones/body parts sanded off slowly.

Newtonian Fury · Post by **Newtonian Fury** » 2003-07-20 12:12am

Vorlon1701 wrote:From my recent experiences in Europe, I myself have come to the conclusion that Europe isn't afraid of Genetically Engineered crops due to any valid concerns, they're just Anti-American.

Don't think so in this case. It's more about protecting their farmers than about foreign influences. Keep in mind that there is a significant presence of the anti-GE faction in the US as well. They just don't run tractors into McDonald's.

TheDarkling · Post by **TheDarkling** » 2003-07-20 12:13am

Rather, I find this business tactic of hooking customers to a product to be rather repulsive when it comes to feeding people in poorer countries.

And that is why they is fairly large group of Africans who also don't want GE crops, because once the huge agriculture firms have you under their thumb they can hike the prices and you will have to pay, this is the main reason I am leery of GM crops and is also why I find the US rhetoric about feeding Africa to be annoying, the US cares nothing about feeding Africans if they did some legislation would come along to ban this sort of activity to encourage Africans to take up the crops, the entire GM debate is about the EU being protectionist of its farmers and the boys in Washington dancing to the tune the Farming industry tells them to.

I also don't like the fact that that the US cries foul when the EU enforces more information to be displayed on food labelling, does not the consumer have a right to know what they are eating? The US agriculture industry doesn't think so because it may hurt their profits when the consumers of Europe refuse to by GM foods (admittedly because off the unfounded scaremongering of certain European officials) and the profit of those industries is what he row is about not whether the people in Africa are starving or not.

kojikun · Post by **kojikun** » 2003-07-20 02:16am

Ive heard anti GM idiots say that we have no idea what the consequences
of GM crops will be, that we dont know if poisons will form from previously
innocent genes. They say humans are the guinea pigs and we're risking our
own lives in doing this. I suppose they have completely forgotten that
before any product like that can be put onto the market, let alone given
permission for being grown, they must pass strict FDA (and Euro
equivalent) tests to prove that its safe. Fucking idiots don't realise that
we're not going about this blind because we're required by law to
PROVE the shit is safe. Ugh.

Xenophobe3691 · Post by **Xenophobe3691** » 2003-07-20 02:21am

Here's a bit of really simple biotechnology for ya.

Have you ever eaten corn? Well, that is a species that Man has tamed, bred, and twisted to suit its own purposes. Corn can't even breed without human help, since the husks never fall off! I don't see anyone denouncing Corn or its ilk, like wheat and rice...

Another bit of Biotechnology for you. Vaccines! I'm sure you guys love your vaccines, you know, the ones that prevent you from getting Hepatitis, Tetanus, Polio, Dipthera, Rubella. If you don't, you're fucking retarded (and your kids will be if they don't get the vaccines and catch the diseases)

Hamel · Post by **Hamel** » 2003-07-20 02:41am

The concerns about GM foods are real. There is NO evidence that GM crops are life improving. Malnutrition and poverty is not caused by %%#$^ access to GM products. Consider this example:

India is the third-largest food producer in the world, according to Indian government figures. In 2000, while India's granaries overflowed with 80 million tons of (non-genetically altered) excess production, why were starvation deaths reported across my country -- while the government, unable to find export markets, considered dumping the grain into the sea? Because that way, the government could keep prices high on the export market, necessary because India and other nations cannot compete with subsidized cheap exports from nations such as the United States. Too bad about starving citizens in a nation with a grain glut.

What happens to grain sold to other nations? India is not unique -- almost 78 percent of countries reporting child malnutrition are food-exporting countries. More than a third of that grain grown in the developing world becomes livestock fodder to fatten the meat consumed by wealthy countries.

The math is clear: Hunger has nothing to do with any deficit of food production; it has to do with a shortage of purchasing power. So if the poor are unable to buy two meals a day now, how will they purchase biotech crops?

The hungry don't need a technological fix. They need basic social change. -- What Food Shortage? by Anuradha Mittal, June 24, 2003, on FoodFirst

GM is being marketed as the miracle solution for the 3rd world to feed itself, when in fact it's just an attempt at cornering the market.

Recall the last time this sort of "green revolution" to end hunger and poverty was sold to the 3rd world: the Bhopal disaster. Cutting corners is a staple of the profit motive gone out of control.

http://www.american.edu/TED/BHOPAL.HTM

According to many, Bhopal is the site of the greatest industrial
disaster in history. On the night of December 23, 1984, a
dangerous chemical reaction occurred in the Union Carbide
factory when a large amount of water got into the MIC storage
tank # 610. The leak was first detected by workers about 11:30
p.m. when their eyes began to tear and burn. They informed their
supervisor who failed to take action until it was too late. In
that time, a large amount, about 40 tons of Methyl Isocyanate
(MIC), poured out of the tank for nearly two hours and escaped
into the air, spreading within eight kilometers downwind, over
the city of nearly 900,000. Thousands of people were killed
(estimates ranging as high as 4,000) in their sleep or as they
fled in terror, and hundreds of thousands remain injured or
affected (estimates range as high as 400,000) to this day. The
most seriously affected areas were the densely populated shanty
towns immediately surrounding the plant -- Jayaprakash Nagar,
Kazi Camp, Chola Kenchi, and the Railway Colony. The victims
were almost entirely the poorest members of the population.

Since the FDA and Monsanto are revolving doors of employment, with shitty quality assurance, the cmompany can avoid collapsing from lawsuits people not buying. Hell, they have no long-term effects on humans, animals, and the environment.

Hamel · Post by **Hamel** » 2003-07-20 02:42am

Typo demon
Should read:

The concerns about GM foods are real. There is NO evidence that GM crops are life improving. Malnutrition and poverty is not caused by %%#$^ LACK of access to GM products. Consider this example:

Hamel · Post by **Hamel** » 2003-07-20 02:43am

WTF? Damn demon.
Should read:

Hell, they have no RESEARCH on long-term effects on humans, animals, and the environment.

Dahak · Post by **Dahak** » 2003-07-20 06:03am

GM food won't solve the food problem of Africa.
Its problem is not too low production, it is mismanagement, warlording, and the results thereof.

And I *am* against GM food. And kojikun: they may have been tested, but not on a long-term scale.No one has any experience with GM food, but they throw it onto the people nonetheless.
I have *no* friends whatsoever who would eat, or buy, GM food.

The US-agraric industry is just pissed because Eurpoe won't cave in before the might of their lobbyists.
WHen the commission decided that GM food has to be labelled, one official had the nerve to say that this would be against consumer interests...

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2003-07-20 11:23am

Then indeed, let the long-term testing commence. I want to see the EU fanatics eat crow when no negative effects are found.

Post by **Colonel Olrik** » 2003-07-20 11:32am

Durran Korr wrote:Then indeed, let the long-term testing commence. I want to see the EU fanatics eat crow when no negative effects are found.

Speaking as one of those fanatics, I'll gladly eat it if proven completely safe. Nevertheless, I still expect the product to say its origins, as I don't mind paying more for completely natural food ( I already do it to some extent, by buying portuguese natural fed cow, for example).

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2003-07-20 11:34am

Colonel Olrik wrote:
Durran Korr wrote:Then indeed, let the long-term testing commence. I want to see the EU fanatics eat crow when no negative effects are found.
Speaking as one of those fanatics, I'll gladly eat it if proven completely safe. Nevertheless, I still expect the product to say its origins, as I don't mind paying more for completely natural food ( I already do it to some extent, by buying portuguese natural fed cow, for example).

Organic food? Food grown in cow shit, you mean.

Post by **Colonel Olrik** » 2003-07-20 11:38am

Durran Korr wrote: Organic food? Food grown in cow shit, you mean.

Yes, that's the one. Believe me or not, there's a lot of difference in flavour between oranges grown in a small farm and industrial ones. The same applies to chickens and lots of other stuff. Or that or it's in my genes, half of me is pure country boy.

Post by **NecronLord** » 2003-07-20 01:28pm

"EU fanatics" - great linking of politics and idiots there. Because if they happen to be in the EU, that must mean that it's something we all support. FUCK OFF. Prehaps you should start calling the creationists "AMERICAN creationists" and most of the trolls we see "AMERICAN trolls."

WHAT THE FUCK DO THESE PEOPLE HAVE TO DO WITH THE REST OF THE PEOPLE IN THE EU?

And another thing, what the fuck is wrong with being Anti - American. How many Americans are Anti-European, why the fuck can't Europeans be Anti - American?

kojikun · Post by **kojikun** » 2003-07-20 01:32pm

Long term effects of what? What long term effects would there be? You
mean after years of growing etc? Thats what routine quality control is for.
We might as well say the same thing about all food tho since we know the
same about non GM food's future as we do for GM foods future. GM food is safe HERE and NOW, and is kept that way by quality control.

And you don't have to buy fucking GM products, so stop protesting the shit,
noones forcing you to eat GM, or to have your nonGM food contaminated.
It's all of your own volition, so you have no right to go onto peoples farms
and burn the crops, or any nonsense like that.

Gil Hamilton · Post by **Gil Hamilton** » 2003-07-20 01:50pm

Popular culture is why people are irrationally scared of genetically modified foods, not for any logical reason. It's ingrained in the popular culture that if something is genetically modified, it is unnatural, and unnatural things are bad (as if corn and dogs were the process of genetic engineering themselves). People he genetically modified and they think Atomic Mutant Super Tomatoes, not tomatoes that have a gene spliced into to make them handle cold weather better so a high percentage of them survive cold snaps. The fact is that genetically modified foods will no more make you sick than their cousins, because there is very little in them that isn't in their cousins. It's the same sort of fear people have of nuclear power, it's irrational and actually defies the facts of the thing.

TheDarkling · Post by **TheDarkling** » 2003-07-20 01:52pm

And you don't have to buy fucking GM products, so stop protesting the shit,
noones forcing you to eat GM, or to have your nonGM food contaminated.

Really? Then why is the US complaining about the EU labeling foods that are GM as such?

Post by **Colonel Olrik** » 2003-07-20 01:55pm

kojikun wrote:Long term effects of what? What long term effects would there be? You
mean after years of growing etc? Thats what routine quality control is for.
We might as well say the same thing about all food tho since we know the
same about non GM food's future as we do for GM foods future. GM food is safe HERE and NOW, and is kept that way by quality control.

Don't be silly, you're comparing food that has been around for hundreds of years (with no desease or illefects associated with it) to food which doesn't even have a generation. Ask the brits about the Mad cow disease, provoked by a seemingly innocent improvement of livestock rations.

And you don't have to buy fucking GM products, so stop protesting the shit, noones forcing you to eat GM, or to have your nonGM food contaminated.
It's all of your own volition, so you have no right to go onto peoples farms
and burn the crops, or any nonsense like that.

Well, the problem is that GM food apologists think that there's no reason to mark the food (obviously, they're afraid of losing money). Any demand for them to do so is automatically labeled as anti-american warmongering. The consumers have the right to be informed. Specially in a place like Europe, where's too much food anyway, and we can choose. GM food is good for places like Africa and Asia, with overpopulated countries low on land resources.

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2003-07-20 01:55pm

NecronLord wrote:"EU fanatics" - great linking of politics and idiots there. Because if they happen to be in the EU, that must mean that it's something we all support. FUCK OFF. Prehaps you should start calling the creationists "AMERICAN creationists" and most of the trolls we see "AMERICAN trolls."

WHAT THE FUCK DO THESE PEOPLE HAVE TO DO WITH THE REST OF THE PEOPLE IN THE EU?

And another thing, what the fuck is wrong with being Anti - American. How many Americans are Anti-European, why the fuck can't Europeans be Anti - American?

Apologies. I was just referring to the anti-GM fanatics in the EU, in no way was I trying to imply that everyone in the EU was against the stuff.

And I would have no problem if you started calling creationists "American creationists," since I see no other active creationist movement elsewhere in the world (except for in some of the fundamentalist Islamic states). Trolls would be different, since trolls aren't unique to the US.

Dahak · Post by **Dahak** » 2003-07-20 01:58pm

kojikun wrote:Long term effects of what? What long term effects would there be? You
mean after years of growing etc? Thats what routine quality control is for.
We might as well say the same thing about all food tho since we know the
same about non GM food's future as we do for GM foods future. GM food is safe HERE and NOW, and is kept that way by quality control.

Genes could migrate to other plants, as has been observed.
No one really knows what effects the additional, or changed, genes might have on the human body in the long term. No one ever tried it.
And just because so far no bad effects have been observed is no proof that it is perfectly safe.
Remember Asbestos, Contergan, TBT, etc.

And you don't have to buy fucking GM products, so stop protesting the shit,
noones forcing you to eat GM, or to have your nonGM food contaminated.
It's all of your own volition, so you have no right to go onto peoples farms
and burn the crops, or any nonsense like that.

But when agricoprs like Monsanto are forcing their products into the market, and pushing "normal" crops out, they take away the choice, don't they?
As is our right, we refuse to cave in just because the almighty USA tells us it is oh so safe, and oh so good. Of course you can sue at the WTO, and even succeed.
But since there is a labeling obligation now, I doubt GM food would fare well in selling and would swiftly drop from shops... And the labeling is something the WTO can't affect.

As it is, the US is free to eat that shit. As are all other countries. Just don't expect it to be sold in Europe.

Post by **NecronLord** » 2003-07-20 01:59pm

Colonel Olrik wrote: Don't be silly, you're comparing food that as been around for hundreds of years (with no desease or illefects associated with it)

Now that's hardly true, there's whole piles of food that have illeffects.

to food which doesn't even have a generation. Ask the brits about the Mad cow disease,

The number of people who contracted nvCJD was in double figures. Don't make a fuss about it, it's nothing.

provoked by a seemingly innocent improvement of livestock rations.

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Europe, Africa and Golden Rice

Europe, Africa and Golden Rice

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