Response by Marta G. Rivera‐Ferre

Abstract

Although Dr Wager does not address directly my original article in his correspondence (Rivera‐Ferre, 2008), a response to his comments is nevertheless useful to explain my position on the IAASTD report. His article, in my view, is symptomatic of the broader compartmentalization of knowledge among commentators in the agricultural sciences: researchers in the natural sciences are often not aware of the socio‐economic and environmental contexts of their research. The IAASTD has produced a comprehensive report that analyses and describes many, if not all, of the economic, ecological and social functions and potentials of agriculture, which, together, form the three classical pillars of sustainability. A key conclusion from the report is that agriculture as a whole has suffered from insufficient attention given to, in particular, the environmental and social factors, including maintenance of farmers' livelihoods. The increasingly specialized technologies that are being used in some agricultural production systems are the result of a paradigm that focuses on productivity and further commodifies the agri‐food chain from agriculture to food. In this context, genetically modified (GM) crops are simply the latest technology that accentuates the commodification of agriculture at the possible expense of social and environmental sustainability, including the economic sustainability of farming communities. I agree with Dr Wager that GM crops are wrongly singled out for criticism, while there are many other problems with current agricultural practices that also deserve critical attention. In my opinion, GM crops are actually a symptom of a different problem: a model of agriculture that does not adequately consider agricultural ecosystems in a wider context before applying knowledge and technology. Such a context can normally be well‐defined by the social, environmental and economic sciences, which means that an analysis in collaboration with experts from these disciplines should be performed before developing any new technology. In addition, the …