Prepared By Promodkumar K P (pramodkumarkp@gmail.com)
Biotechnology
– A Solution to build sustainable food systems for post-COVID-19 world?
The world’s 7.6 billion residents are facing an unmitigated and unprecedented fight against a global
public health emergency. The spread of COVID-19 pandemic across the globe has led to never-beforeexperienced lockdown situations – which in turn are having a significant impact across agricultural
systems – threatening food security for increasing numbers of people around the world.
At the same time, the stark reality is that around half a billion smallholder farmers, who help produce
almost 80 per cent of the food consumed in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, are not immune to the impacts
of this crisis. They are experiencing significant disruptions of the vital food supply chains in which they
are essential participants as producers and consumers.
We must not forget those vulnerable communities living in marginal environments in these regions. For
instance, the recently launched Hindu-Kush Himalaya Assessment points to the fact that around onethird of the population in the region is food insecure, and half of the population is suffering from
malnutrition with severe impacts on children and women. Those countries less able to cope with the
pandemic are yet to feel the full impact of the crisis on their citizens and the smallholder farmers who
help feed them and the wider world.
Local, national and global food supply chains will falter if farmers cannot access inputs or supplies
necessary for efficient production, get into their fields to sow their crops, fertilize appropriately, manage
pest and weed problems, harvest perishable products such as fruits and vegetables, or participate in
markets because of lockdowns.
Now more than ever, the Association of International Research and Development Centers for
Agriculture (AIRCA) stands strong in hope and unity for global food and nutrition security. It is
encouraging that many governments are already reaching out to those most at risk of poverty and food
insecurity, and to stimulate the recovery of rural economies, particularly agriculture. However, this
presumes that agriculture is ready to respond.
Crops that can be grown in a short amount of time, such as quinoa, millet, sorghum, Salicornia and leafy
traditional vegetables can give hope to smallholder farmers and rural communities struggling to contend
with food and nutrition security amid the crisis. There may be many more family members to support as
a result of the exodus from the big cities. Home gardening of vegetables and fruit, or enterprises around
bee-keeping could be important additions to food supply and income for these families.
Our existing programmes to stimulate local enterprise and increase empowerment are now doubly
important for the poor and the disadvantaged in food systems, including market vendors, small-scale
processors, grocery workers, and the truck drivers who deliver the goods.
The crisis underlines three important points: the importance of science and innovation; the vulnerability
of billions of people at the bottom of the pyramid; and the need for more diversified, nutritious, and
resilient food systems.
These shape our thinking about what the ‘new normal’ will look like when the current pandemic is over
– as it surely will be.
AIRCA advocates a stronger interdisciplinary approach to research through the adoption of the ‘One
Health’ concept and integration of the ‘4-H’: Plant Health, Animal Health, Human Health and
Environmental Health. The increasing impacts of climate change, for instance, are being felt through
greater incidences of zoonoses and transboundary animal diseases, as well as invasive pests such as the
desert locust, the fall armyworm, Tuta absoluta and others. This points to the need for more urgent
coordinated holistic responses across science disciplines. AIRCA and its members pledge to combine our
resources to ease the burden of this crisis on smallholders and food security systems now, and to build a
more resilient and responsive food system in the ‘new normal’ to come.
The benefits of biotechnology are especially meaningful at a time when our global population is growing
and our demand for food is increasing, especially in developing countries.
Among the many potential biotechnologies that are available, and the different ways in which they can be
applied, genetic modification (GM) of crops demands particular attention. Genetically modified crops
possessing genes from different species, could possibly relieve global food shortages. Although initial
excitement surrounded the use of GM crops -- that they will provide bigger and better harvests for farmers -there are still questions about the benefits of such crops. In addition, the general public may not welcome the
creation of "super plants" as a viable option in solving global hunger.
The environmental impact of GM crops is important with regard to creating food security in developing
countries. Genetically modified crops can potentially fail to germinate; kill organisms other than pests that are
beneficial to plants and reduce soil fertility; and potentially transfer insecticidal properties or virus resistance
to wild relatives of the crop species.
A segment of the scientific community often proposes that export earnings from higher agricultural yields can
contribute to reducing food insecurity and hunger in developing countries. However, there are many issues
and challenges that beg the practicality of this proposal. A few crop varieties, specially created through
biotechnology, can improve yields, but biotechnology alone cannot solve the problem of hunger in the
developing world.
Nevertheless, the potential advantages that biotechnology can confer across a wide range of agricultural
applications are in areas such as livestock management, storage of agricultural products and sustaining current
crop yields, while reducing the use of fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides. The real challenge is whether we
are smart enough to harness the benefits of biotechnological solutions. But what are these solutions?
As stated, one of the potential area for biotechnology application is the development of livestock that is
tolerant to many tropical diseases. Modern methods, such as genomics, could be applied in this area
without requiring transgenesis. Also related to agricultural production is the significance of revegetation
in marginal areas. Investment in fast-growing plants could help facilitate ecological restoration in many
denuded regions of the world. Such research could also add to the fodder available in these countries.
Biotechnology offers a very promising alternative to synthetic foods and an improvement on conventional
plant-breeding technologies. Combined with other advanced agricultural technologies, it offers an exciting and
environmentally responsible way to meet consumer demand for sustainable agriculture. When the benefits of
GM crops reach small and marginal farmers, more Green Revolutions may become a reality.
Combating Hunger and Malnutrition
Malnutrition is the related term in medicine for hunger. The most recent estimate of the Food and Agriculture
Organization says that 854 million people worldwide are undernourished. This is 12.6 per cent of 6.6 billion
people in the world. Many of the 854 million that are undernourished, children being the most visible victims,
live in developing countries. Under nutrition magnifies the impact of every disease, including measles and
malaria. One example tells us how biotechnology can contribute to combating global hunger and malnutrition.
Golden Rice
Approximately 140 million children in low-income groups in 118 countries, especially in Africa and South-East
Asia, are deficient in Vitamin A. This situation has compounded into a public health challenge. The World
Health Organization reports that an estimated 250,000 to 500,000 Vitamin A-deficient children become blind
every year, half of them dying within 12 months of losing their sight. Golden Rice, created by researchers in
Germany and Switzerland, contains three new genes -- two from the daffodil and one from a bacterium -- that
helps it to produce provitamin A. This rice is available as a possible option for mass distribution, in part due to
the waiving of patent rights by biotechnology companies. This is just one among the hundreds of new biotech
products, which point to the contributions of biotechnology to society.
Intellectual Property and Food Security
There are concerns about a technological landscape controlled almost exclusively by the private sector and
defined by patent protection. Patents allow large, private firms substantial control over plant genes, which has
worrisome implications. If farmers have to purchase seeds during every sowing season, it affects their income
and food security. Although biotech companies such as Monsanto and AstraZeneca have announced that they
would not commercialize the so-called "Terminator" or seed-sterilization technology, which is genetically
designed to "switch off" a plant's ability to germinate a second time, the biotech industry collectively owns at
least three dozen patents that control either seed germination or essential plant germination processes. This
privatization of a plant's genetic resources puts not only agricultural research in developing nations at a
disadvantage, but might ultimately threaten the livelihoods of a majority of small farmers in Africa, Latin
America, and Asia who largely depend on seed saved from one crop to sow in the next.
In developing countries, there may be a potential negative impact from Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) over
biotechnological products or the processes used in producing them. IPRs have been held not only by private
companies, but also by some public organizations making it impossible to use any aspect of biotechnology for
improving major crop species without infringing a patent somewhere in the process. Because of IPRs, it has
not always been possible to separate the biotechnology prospects from the business interests involved. A
major consequence of IPR in agricultural biotechnology is that many developing countries which have not yet
invested in biotechnology may never be able to catch up in the future.
Possibilities
Sound decisions need to be based on diligent research. Biotechnology scientists are often highly specialized
and technique-focused and may also need additional competency in handling the complicated issue of hunger
and food security in developing countries.
Biotechnology holds tremendous possibilities for the developing world. The use of high-yielding, disease- and
pest-resistant crops will have a direct bearing on improved food security, poverty alleviation and
environmental conservation. GM crops will hopefully produce more yield on less land. This may increase the
overall productivity and may offer developing countries a means to sustain themselves and reduce worldwide
hunger. Ninety per cent of the world's 13.3 million "biotech crop farmers" are from developing countries.
India, with 7.6 million hectares, is the fourth among the 14 "mega-biotech crop" countries. For instance, five
million farmers in India are engaged in planting 7.6 million hectares of Bt or Bacillus thuringiensis, cotton,
which protects itself from insects without requiring external pesticide. The shift to Bt cotton has been possible
because of the 31 per cent increase in its yield, 39 per cent decrease in insecticide use, and higher profits
equivalent to $250 per hectare.
It is now also possible using biotechnological approaches to increase the extraction of oil from a plant source
up to 90 per cent. With the depletion of world hydrocarbon reserves, in the future it is probable that plant oils,
such as biodiesel, may compete in terms of price and quality with oil, coal and gas.
Final Thoughts
The world's food supply is abundant, not scarce. The world's production of grain and other foods is sufficient
to provide at least 4.3 pounds of food per person, per day. The real reason for hunger in the world is poverty,
which often strikes women--the nutritional gatekeepers in many families--the hardest. Economists argue that
resolving hunger requires political solutions and not just agro-technical solutions. According to them, instead
of looking at biotechnology as a yet unproven and non-existent breakthrough, decision makers should look at
the full body of research that shows that solutions to eliminate hunger are not technological in nature, but
rooted in basic socio-economic realities. This is not to say that technology, including biotechnology, does not
play a role in reducing, say, malnutrition, but there is no technology that can override the immediate political
and social forces that keep people poor and hungry.
The global biotechnology industry has funnelled a vast majority of its investment into a limited range of
products that have large, secured markets in the First World -- products which are of little relevance to the
needs of the world's hungry. Biotechnology has applications that can significantly solve the problem of world
hunger. Green is the colour of agricultural biotechnology, of fertility, self-respect and well-being.
In my opinion, policymakers should pragmatically consider modern biotech discoveries and assets as an
important tool for solving the problem of global hunger. Instead of further investing in highly globalised supply
chains of bulk-produced food, we need to start moving towards local, sustainable and resilient food systems.
Systems that are not only focused on producing more food – and more animal feed – but on integrating food
production with the health of people and the planet, while protecting workers and ensuring a fair price for
farmers.