11 November 2000

Text: Biotechnology Offers Promising Tool for Global Food

Biotechnology offers "one of the most promising tools for meeting future demand for an abundant, affordable, nutritious, and safe global food supply," says James Schroeder, U.S. deputy under secretary for farm and foreign agricultural services at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Speaking at the African Biotechnology Conference's closing session in Accra, Ghana, on November 11, Schroeder said that "until now, biotechnology breakthroughs in agriculture have primarily benefited farmers and consumers in developed countries." But now, "it is time to focus on research breakthroughs that benefit African farmers and consumers. There are a host of traditional African crops that stand to benefit from biotechnology and genetic improvement."

Biotechnology, Schroeder said, "holds the potential for reducing the use of crop chemicals, fossil fuels, and, water."

The U.S. official also acknowledged that "there are biophysical points of contention" -- in both developed and developing nations -- regarding food and environmental safety, as well as questions about intellectual property rights, organic certification, and marketing standards.

Through additional information and knowledge, Schroeder said, individuals and societies will eventually become more comfortable with the benefits of biotechnology.

While some people will always focus on the risks of new technologies, he said, he cautioned that "there are also risks in not taking advantage of the benefits that new technologies may offer."

Following is the text of Schroeder's remarks, as prepared for delivery:

Remarks of James Schroeder
Deputy Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services
U.S. Department of Agriculture

Before the Strategic Alliance for Biotechnology Research in African Development (SABRAD) Workshop on Biotechnology (CLOSING SEMINAR) Accra, Ghana

November 11, 2000

I am proud to be a part of this week's workshop, the first activity under the SABRAD Alliance. The idea for this week's workshop was born out of fruitful discussions at an agribusiness workshop here in Accra that was a part of the African-African American Summit in May 1999. At that meeting, Dr. Suchet Louis of Tuskegee University, who is the co-chairman of this week's workshop, raised the issue of USDA collaboration on agricultural research with African institutes, government agencies, and farmers. Just a few months later, the SABRAD Alliance grew out of a Memorandum of Cooperation among the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the 1890 Land-Grant Universities, the CGIAR [Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research] Centers, such as CIMMYT [International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre] and IITA [International Institute of Tropical Agriculture], and African research and higher education institutions. Dr. Louis' idea is now a reality.

The U.S. Partnership With Africa

This Alliance and this workshop are just one part of a strong, sustained commitment to Africa on the part of USDA and President Clinton. The Clinton Administration has shown an interest in and a concern for Africa that is simply unmatched in American history. Our policy in trade, agriculture, or, indeed, any other area, is one of forging stronger partnerships.

Last May, President Clinton signed the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). This legislation recognizes and seeks to reward political and economic liberalization. It offers a solid, meaningful, and significant opportunity for increased trade and economic cooperation between the United States and eligible sub-Saharan African countries. It is expected to result in billions of dollars in new trade and investment flows. Early last month, President Clinton signed the proclamation designating 34 sub-Saharan African countries that will receive increased trade and development benefits under AGOA, including duty-free treatment for essentially all products. We will continue to work closely on AGOA implementation.

Research and Africa

I am excited about the SABRAD Alliance because it fulfills important goals for Africa and agricultural research. It is important because it makes African scientists our partners in biotechnology development. As our Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman has said, all the research we do will mean nothing if no one trusts the science behind improved crops. This is a chance to build that trust through shared knowledge and opportunity.

This workshop is just one step in an ongoing partnership in technology transfer. Africa has some of the most biologically diverse ecosystems in the world. We all have benefited from that diversity. Today, there is a great deal of research between USDA and the countries all over the African continent that focuses on cooperative biotech research projects for small-scale farming and economic development.

The need for more research has never been greater. There are more than 6 billion [thousand million] people in the world and we need to have a system in place to feed them. While sub-Saharan Africa is projected to account for only 25 percent of the world's population in 2008, the region is expected to account for nearly 80 percent of the nutrition gap (domestic supply and minimum nutrition requirement). USDA is committed to a long-term strategy to support research and technical assistance aimed at improving African food production and security. Biotechnology to improve African food production and security must play a role in this strategy.

Biotechnology -- The Promise and the Perils

Biotechnology offers one of the most promising tools for meeting future demand for an abundant, affordable, nutritious, and safe global food supply. It holds the potential for reducing the use of crop chemicals, fossil fuels, and, water. We can bring the benefits of biotechnology to the world faster when we work together.

There are debates in both developed and developing countries regarding biotechnology. There are biophysical points of contention (i.e., food safety, environmental safety) and there are social points of contention (i.e., intellectual property rights, organic certification, and marketing standards). Ongoing science and dialogue -- exemplified by SABRAD -- are necessary to generate and share the information that will allow us to make comfortable and beneficial decisions, and fuel new debates.

With strong science-based regulation and evaluation, completely open to public scrutiny, biotechnology promises to transform agriculture as we know it and enhance our ability to feed a population that is expected to top 9 billion people by mid-century. Some people will always focus on the risks of new technologies. I understand their concerns. However, there are also risks in NOT taking advantage of the benefits that new technologies may offer. In the words of Nigeria's Minister of Agriculture Hassan Adamu in an opinion piece on biotechnology in Africa for the Washington Post not long ago: "We will proceed carefully and thoughtfully, but we want to have the opportunity to save the lives of millions of people and change the course of history in many nations."

His point, well taken, is that anti-biotechnology groups in developed countries have the luxury of speaking from a well-fed perspective. There are 800 million people in the world who are food insecure and do not have that luxury. Poverty and malnutrition are such large, pressing problems that we cannot afford to rule out approaches like biotechnology that demonstrate potentials to benefit humanity. Biotechnology should be one of the tools -- along with traditional breeding methods -- that we can use to manage food production in a sustainable way.

According to Nobel Laureate Norman Borlaug, the father of the Green Revolution, without biotechnology, there is no chance that conventional technology alone can help meet demand for increased food supplies to feed a growing population. Good efforts are under way. This workshop is one of them.

USAID spends more than $7 million a year, often in cooperation with U.S. universities, on supporting biotechnology development and technology transfer, primarily in Africa. At USDA, for fiscal year 2000, a total of $188 million was targeted for biotechnology, including research and development, plant germ plasm and germ plasm repositories, and regulatory efforts.

Part of the resistance to biotechnology arises from a distrust of large corporations and a resistance to globalization. Some feel that biotechnology is suspect because it has been developed largely by the private sector and has found its first uses in developed countries. Mutual trust will require greater transparency among all parties to manage genetic resources. In addition, trust will require greater capacities among developing countries to deal equitably with international or corporate partners, who may have relatively vast experiences with the science, laws, and business of biotechnology.

Public-private partnerships can be [part] of the answer to how we can cooperate to enhance agricultural productivity in developing countries. One encouraging example is the cooperation among Monsanto, USAID, and the government of Kenya to develop a disease-resistant sweet potato. This is likely to be among the first genetically engineered crops tested in sub-Saharan Africa.

Not-for-profit organizations also have a vital role. The Rockefeller Foundation has been instrumental in the development of "golden" rice, a rice that combats vitamin A deficiency and could save hundreds of millions of children from blindness and other health problems. Not-for-profit organizations (e.g., the Near East Foundation) with a presence in rural Africa will be critical to help reach farmers with biotechnology.

Relevant Research by Africa for Africa

For the most part, until now, biotechnology breakthroughs in agriculture have primarily benefited farmers and consumers in developed countries. It is time to focus on research breakthroughs that benefit African farmers and consumers. There are a host of traditional African crops that stand to benefit from biotechnology and genetic improvement.

According to Robert Paarlberg of Harvard University, the disadvantaged farmers of Africa were bypassed for the most part by the Green Revolution and the gains in production that were brought on by conventional plant breeding. Those improved varieties still required that farmers buy supplementary inputs such as fertilizer and pesticides. But with the new transgenic crops, the potential for greater productivity exists in the seed itself. Pests and diseases are controlled through genetic engineering, not by chemicals.

Despite substantial progress during the past quarter century, many countries, particularly here in Africa, have been unable to achieve sustained gains in agricultural output. Biotechnology holds promise for changing that picture and for poverty alleviation. Increasing farm productivity will raise incomes of the rural poor and free up workers to support growth in manufacturing and service sector jobs. Raising agricultural productivity will be crucial to any strategy to increase economic growth and decrease poverty levels.

Challenges to Acceptance of Biotechnology

But the challenges to acceptance of biotechnology are many. They include things such as environmental impact, risk assessment, rules-based systems for trade in biotech products, development of sound science-based regulatory processes, and food safety. Challenges to the acceptance of biotechnology include political as well as technical aspects.

To this point, the scientific community has developed biotechnology responsibly. It is critical that we maintain this course to build confidence among the public at large, who rarely grasp advanced science; any other course will fuel public fears, which could retard scientific progress at a high price for humanity. That was part of the challenge of the discussions of the past two days ... how do we get people to appreciate biotechnology's benefits and risks? How do we increase funding for research in biotechnology? How do we handle the challenges facing stakeholders? The results of your discussions in the various working groups will bring us closer to helping biotechnology realize its potential here in Africa. While there is a great deal left to do in our work, I feel we have made substantial progress over the past two days. I want to thank you for your efforts.

Finally, I want to encourage participation on the part of Africa in the international fora where biotechnology is being discussed and rules are being formulated. By these I mean the World Trade Organization, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and other international organizations. We need more courageous people like Minister Adamu to make themselves and their concerns heard not just in the press but in the meetings and conferences where policy is being decided. Thank you.

end text

Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State.
Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov

This site is produced and maintained by the U.S. Department of State. Links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views contained therein.