Is the European attitude to GM products suffocating African development?
Greg Bodulovic
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Integrative Legume Research, Genomic Interactions Group, Research School of Biological Sciences, Australian National University, PO Box 475, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia. gregor.bodulovic@anu.edu.au
Functional Plant Biology 32(12) 1069-1075 https://doi.org/10.1071/FP05049
Submitted: 7 March 2005 Accepted: 4 August 2005 Published: 1 December 2005
Abstract
Currently, parts of Southern Africa are experiencing the third major drought in five years. The previous two droughts greatly affected food production, resulting in food shortages, which necessitated the provision of food aid to the region by developed nations. However, some of the food aid included genetically modified (GM) crops, the supply of which triggered hostile reactions by southern African governments, and in one case resulted in food aid being withheld from people on the verge of starvation. This article will examine the background and reasons behind the condemnation of GM crops by southern African nations, and will consider whether the lack of support of agricultural biotechnology by European nations has contributed to this situation. Furthermore, the necessity of agricultural biotechnology in future African development will be considered.
Acknowledgments
I thank Professor Barry Rolfe, Professor John Gibson, Dr Michael Djordjevic, Dr Jeremy Weinman and Dr Charles Hocart for their critical readings of the manuscript. I also thank the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Integrative Legume Research for the PhD scholarship.
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