Science & Technology

6 Items

Analysis & Opinions - Technology+Policy | Innovation@Work

Persecuting Biotechnology

| January 11, 2013

"Nearly two decades of propaganda and advocacy based on questionable scientific evidence forced many countries to forego the benefits of a new technology even before its merits had been assessed. In effect, these restrictions have introduced a new class of risks associated with not being able adopt a new technology even where it would confer benefits to farmers, consumers, and industrialists."

May 31, 2011: Issiaka Ouedraogo lays cocoa beans out to dry on reed mats, on a farm outside the village of Fangolo, Ivory Coast. Climate change will leave many cocoa-producing areas in West Africa unsuitable for chocolate production by 2050.

AP Photo

Analysis & Opinions - Science

Science Meets Farming in Africa

| December 9, 2011

"Africa has a long history of exporting resources and importing food, despite the potential to meet its own food demands, reduce poverty, and drive economic growth. Unfortunately, major international agencies such as the United Nations (UN) have persistently opposed expanding biotechnology to regions most in need of its societal and economic benefits."

In this March 8, 2011 photo, Joseph Dzindwa, who has expanded from a one-hectare to an eight-hectare maize farm in the last few years, checks his hybrid maize crop in Catandica, Mozambique.

AP Photo

Testimony

Agricultural Biotechnology: Benefits, Opportunities, and Leadership

| June 23, 2011

"The United States has been a leading light in agricultural biotechnology as a platform technology and continues to serve as an important role model for countries around the seeking to address global food challenges. A key source of this leadership has been its commitment to using a science-led regulatory system for determining the approval of new products. The rest of the world needs this demonstrated leadership now more than ever given rising food prices and related political unrests around the world. Failure on the part of the United States to champion agricultural biotechnology will undermine confidence in the ability of the global community to confront the challenges of food security. Retracting from using science and technology to address emerging challenges will not result in any savings; it will only defer problems and future costs are likely to be higher."

Analysis & Opinions - The Japan Times

Get Biotechnology on the Agenda for Africa

| June 30, 2008

"Leaders at the Group of Eight industrialized nations' summit in Hokkaido next month need to take strong measures to promote cooperation in using biotechnology to address Africa's food challenges. At present there is resistance from Europe, and even Japan is dragging its feet on this vital issue....While the claims about risks need to be addressed, they no longer carry the same stigma worldwide. South America and Asia have in many cases leapfrogged into the genomics age through the adoption of biotechnology while its use in Africa remains largely marginal."