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ARTICLE: What are the political drivers for GMOs in developing countries?

The following is an excerpt of an article by reporter Lisa Cornish for Devex discussing the forces driving developing countries' usage of GMOs.  

In developing nations across the globe, governments are grappling with questions of what role, if any, genetically modified organisms should play in helping address a range of agriculture, nutrition, and climate challenges.

Concerns have been raised over the environmental and health impacts of GMOs, as well as their impact on traditional farming methods and issues around seed patents, and farmers having to be dependent on corporations.

Governments of developing countries are responding to those concerns in a variety of ways with some banning GMOs outright, some embracing them, and others attempting to find balance between the concerns and needs of all sides.

Developing countries are slowly increasing approved legislation and opening the door to research and commercialization of GMO crops. As these countries seek to expand their export markets, improve domestic living conditions, and address food insecurity in the wake of conflict and climate change, some are seeing a solution in genetically engineered crops.

This is likely to expand an already intense debate on biotechnology, as GMOs come to the fore of food and agriculture policy in the developing world.

Large corporations such as BayerBASFDow AgroSciencesDuPontMonsanto, and Syngenta sell agricultural products to farmers, including GMO varieties of seed for crops including cotton, maize, and rice.

And where there is new or emerging legislation to approve the use of GMOs, there is one or more of these corporations seeking approval for their seed. The key argument put forward by corporations is that improved yield and reduced production costs can help both smallholder farmers and export markets. In developing countries looking to grow their economies, such arguments are increasingly drawing backers.  

GMOs have also gained support as a means of addressing growing food insecurity.

African nations in particular have become central to the debate as many parts of the continent are susceptible to drought or civil conflict that can lead to famine or near-famine conditions. But until recently only four African nations — Burkina Faso, Egypt, Sudan, and South Africa — permitted GMOs to be used in commercial agricultural production. South Africa is the only one to allow GMO food, while the remaining three permit GMO cotton.

The GMO debate is also prominent in regions facing environmental challenges. This includes the Asia Pacific, where arable land is rapidly changing because of increasing natural disasters and rising sea levels. Countries like Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines span the range of attitudes toward genetically engineered crops. And regions such as Latin America, which accounts for approximately 45 percent of biotech crops globally in 2016 according to the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications, are already preparing for the effects climate change will have on their ability to grow food in the future.

Across the globe, developing nations cover the spectrum, from open embrace of GMO to outright hostility.

The considerations made by each government are highly tailored to local needs, economies, and public perception. What is clear from surveying the range of attitudes is that there is no one-size-fits all approach when it comes to the role of GMOs in developing countries.

To read the entire post, please visit Devex