Potential impacts outlined in ITIF report
By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com
Activists who battle against GMOs and biotechnology may think they're fighting the food fight, but according to a new report, they may be doing more harm you'd think.
The report Suppressing Growth: How GMO Opposition Hurts Developing Nations, by the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF), says that GMO activists could cost the poorest nations trillions of dollars.
“The ITIF estimates that the current restrictive climate for agricultural biotech innovations could cost low- and lower-middle-income nations up to $1.5 trillion in foregone economic benefits through 2050,” the report says.
According to the report, those against agricultural biotechnology felt that only industrialized nations can benefit from GMOs.
“GM seeds are even more important for farmers in developing countries than in developed nations, because the former could often ill afford other innovations that boost productivity,” the report explains.
Other report highlights include:
- 16.5 million small farmers spread across 230 million acres in developing countries used GMO seeds in 2014
- From 1996 to 2013, biotech crops have added approximately $133 billion to global agricultural production
- African nations produced about $482 million worth of soybeans in 2013 – if 79 per cent were biotech-improved, the number could be as much as $84 million higher
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal during the World Economic Forum, Bill and Melinda Gates voiced their support for GMO technology in some of the world’s poorest areas.