The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, in "The
State of Food and Agriculture 2003-04", examines the potential of
agricultural biotechnology to address the current and future needs of
the world's poor and food insecure. Critics of biotechnology claim that
technology is not the answer to the problems of poverty and hunger.
They argue - correctly - that the world produces enough food to provide
everyone with an adequate diet and that what is required is more
equitable access by the poor. They extrapolate from these sensible
observations to the mistaken conclusion that technological innovation
is unimportant or even counter-productive in the fight against poverty
and hunger (GRAIN, 2004) . This paper summarizes the findings of The
State of Food and Agriculture and argues that technological innovation
in agriculture, based on the best of modern science, is a necessary
condition for sustainable economic growth and poverty alleviation.
Biotechnology is not a panacea, but it is an essential part of the
solution. This paper briefly reviews the range of biotechnology
applications that can address problems of the poor. It also describes
the role of technological innovation in promoting agricultural and
economic growth and examines the key differences between the Green
Revolution and the Gene Revolution. These differences - private sector
dominance and safety and regulatory concerns - influence both the
technologies being developed and their capacity to reach the poor. The
economic evidence on the experience of developing countries so far with
GM crops is reviewed, followed by policy recommendations to enhance the
likelihood that the Gene Revolution will meet the needs of the poo
