Call on developing world to modernize agriculture

Today, the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) is meeting in Rome, Italy, to discuss the worsening food crisis. The conference aims to find ways of dealing with the worsening global food crisis, which has hit the developing world worst. I hedge that delegates attending the conference will explore both long and short term solutions. When the conference winds up on June 5, I expect to hear that this and that country has pledged so many millions for food aid to countries mostly affected by food shortage, especially in Africa.

I assure you that I won’t be among those who’ll be wowed by these countries’ gesture of philanthropy. I’ve been in this game before, where - whenever hunger emerges in poor countries - shipments of corn, rice, cooking oil, high protein biscuits, beans, and other kinds of foodstuffs are rushed to the dying and/or emaciated populations.

What’s my expectation of the Rome conference? I read that the U.N. Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, while officially opening the conference, mentioned how technology could enhance food security in poor countries. The official lamented that not enough has been done to modernize agriculture in poor countries. Rich countries, according to Mr. Ban, seem to pay more attention to short-term solutions such as providing relief food. I can’t help but agree here.

But there is more to this. Developing countries can’t escape the blame. Actually, they should shoulder the heaviest blame. While the rest of the world has been busy utilizing various technologies to increase food production, poor countries, especially those in Africa, have been paying leap service to the issue. So, we have farmers in Africa still practicing antiquated farming methods. They’re averse to new and better ideas, especially if they come from the West. They’re prone to view western innovations with suspicions, usually with the refrain that they’re attempts to re-colonize them.

Take the case of agricultural biotechnology. Genetically modified crops remain anathema to many African countries despite existing evidence that they’ve recorded success in countries where they’re currently grown, such as the U.S., Canada, Argentina, Brazil, China and even South Africa. Rather than listen to scientists, African countries pay attention to sometime erroneous and propagandist rhetoric from activist organizations. These groups inflame passions by claiming that genetically modified foods have not been tested and, therefore, are not fit for human consumption and pose threat to the environment. All these allegations cannot be scientifically verified.

A report recently released by the Japan-based United Nations University, for instance, bemoans the slow pace of adopting agricultural biotechnology in many developing countries. Entitled Internationally Funded Training in Biotechnology and Biosafety: Is it Bridging the Biotech Divide? the report decries lack of international funding for biosafety training in many developing countries. Where there’s little or no knowledge about biosafety issues, opposition to genetically modified crops is likely to be stiff. This is where African countries are. I echo Bank Ki-Moon’s advise that more resources be allocated to projects aimed at helping poor countries, such as those in Africa, to use modern agricultural technologies. This is the only and surest way of decisively fighting hunger and malnutrition in poor countries.