Agricultural biotechnology, poverty reduction, and food security

This working paper from the Asian Development Bank examines the risks and benefits of biotechnology in relation to human health, the environment, and Agriculture. IN this context it aims to identify measures to minimise adverse impacts, explore the use of biotechnology to reduce poverty and achieve food security in Asia and develop policies and strategies for ADB to support biotechnology in developing countries in Asia.The paper first reviews the impacts of the Green Revolution in Asia noting that the key gains in food security in this period where the result of government policies which reflected the belief that investments in increasing agricultural productivity were a prerequisite to economic development. The mix of supportive public policies, scientific discoveries, and public and private investments in rural Asia, particularly in irrigation, credit, and farm inputs, led to the substantial reductions in poverty and improved food security.However the report also identifies a number of current problems…The intensification of agriculture and the reliance on irrigation and chemical inputs has led to environmental degradation. Whilst Green Revolution technologies were useful in the favourable and irrigated environments, they had little impact on the millions of smallholders living in rainfed and marginal areas where poverty is concentratedThere has been declining public investments in the agriculture sector across the region. And future challenges…The population in Asia is projected to increase from 3.0 billion to 4.5 billion. The demand for food is predicted to increase by about 40 percent from the present level of 650 million tons. This increase must come from increases in agricultural productivity in favourable areas and in rainfed and marginal areas. They will have to be achieved with less labour, water, and arable land since there is no scope for increasing the cultivated areas. Based on current trends in population and food production in Asia, there is likely to be a large gap between food production and demand by 2025.Strategies to meet the required increases in food supply include:Sustainable productivity increases in food, feed, and fibre cropsReducing chemical inputs of fertilisers and pesticides and replacing them with biologically-based productsIntegrating soil, water, and nutrient managementImproving the nutrition and productivity of livestock and controlling livestock diseasesAchieving sustainable increases in fisheries and aquaculture productionIncreasing trade and competitiveness in global marketsThe report argues that modern scientific developments such as genetic mapping and marker-assisted selection , micropropagation and new diagnostics and animal vaccines have a number of advantages in that they:speed plant and animal breedingoffer possible solutions to previously intractable problems such as drought toleranceenable the development of new products such as more nutritious food.Several emerging economies in Asia, the report notes, are making major investments in modern biotechnology alongside regional and international programs and private sector companies. The most significant among these being China.. This interest reflects the expectation that biotechnology can contribute significantly toward poverty reduction and food security. The emphasis of public sector investment has been on low cost technology appropriate for poor farmers in marginal areas, an area that the private sector has largely ignored. Enhancing cooperation between the public and private sectors would help to speed development.However, the safety and efficacy of the new products of modern biotechnology in agriculture, particularly the development of transgenic crops and other GMOs, is the subject of often heated public debate. The challenge the authors identify is how to apply the products of biotechnology safely and effectively for the benefit of small farmers in Asia and to this end they outline a number of key issues:Potential Risks of Biotechnology - An open, transparent, and inclusive food safety policy and regulatory process along with long term monitoring of human health and environmental impacts is required. Developing countries in Asia will need to strengthen their biosafety regulations and enforcement to ensure that the risks of biotechnology can be minimised. Intellectual Property Management – IPR issues include lack of access to the new technologies, losses of ownership rights over indigenous genetic resources, lack of incentives for the free flow of technologies and products from developed to developing countries and a growing danger that the free flow of agricultural materials between countries will be impeded. The public and private sectors need to manage intellectual property to ensure that IPRs do not exclude developing countries from access to the benefits of new technology.Economic Concentration in Agricultural Biotechnology - the development of new biotechnology applications in agriculture has become increasingly concentrated in the hands of a decreasing number of companies aimed at markets in developed countries. Changing patterns of international trade in foods that result from genetic engineering in developed countries could have serious consequences for some developing countries in Asia.Need for Increased Public-Private Sector Collaboration - Public investment in agricultural biotechnology aimed at small farmers and marginal zones. Private sector investment in these areas is unlikely because of limited returns yet additional private and philanthropic resources are required because most governments in Asia have limited resources to finance biotechnology researchPolicy and Priority Setting - Asian countries should establish clear policies and priorities in agricultural biotechnology R&D to ensure that the output will contribute significantly toward poverty reduction and food security. Policies will need to take into account the high level of capital and technical skills biotechnology requires, capacity constrains on public and private biotechnology R&D in developing countries, the reluctance of the private sector to invest in technology for Asia’s poor farmers, the inherent risks in some uses of biotechnology, and the difficulty of establishing and implementing effective biosafety regimes.The report concludes that the governments and funding agencies should continue and increase their investments in biotechnology despite the present challenges facing the rural sector in Asian environments. It recommends that ADB and the governments in the region consider a general strategy to ensure that agricultural biotechnology will contribute to reducing poverty and improving food security focussing on the needs of small farmers in marginal areas and using appropriate, safe technologies.