The State of Food and Agriculture: Agricultural Biotechnology: Meeting the Needs of the Poor?

Abstract

Review: The State of Food and Agriculture: Agricultural Biotechnology: Meeting the Needs of the Poor? By the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Reviewed by Richard J. Blaustein Washington, DC, USA United Nations, Food and Agriculture Organization. The State of Food and Agriculture , 2003-04: Agricultural Biotechnology: Meeting the Needs of the Poor? ( FAO agriculture series, no. 35). Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2004. 209 pp. ISBN 92-5-105079-1. US$65.00 ISSN 0081-4539. In May 2004 the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) released its 2003-2004 book-length report, The State of Food and Agriculture: Agricultural Biotechnology: Meeting the Needs of the Poor? It immediately garnered significant press and media attention. Without doubt, the context for this unusual attention being paid to a UN branch’s biannual report is, as the report quotes, “the global war of rhetoric” (p.3) that is focused on biotechnology’s agricultural applications. With a fundamental questioning about whether the “global war of rhetoric” is preventing a “reasoned debate regarding the hazards and opportunities posed by biotechnology” (p.3), the FAO report seeks a balanced appreciation of the risks and promise of biotechnology for the farmers of developing nations. In fact, while reporting on its survey of existing examinations of risks posed by agricultural biotechnology, the FAO report concludes that “biotechnology is capable of benefiting small resource-poor farmers” (p. 104) and that in numerous situations the benefits clearly outweigh the risks. This salient thrust of the report no doubt accounts for the unusual attention given at its public release. Yet The State of Food and Agriculture: Agricultural Biotechnology: Meeting the Needs of the Poor? is much more than an argument for biotechnology for development, and details, among other biotechnology-related concerns, the state of environmental and health assessments for biotechnology and how the global mode of researching and dissemination of biotechnology has failed to properly address the needs of the poor. In addition to attempting to re-orient biotechnology discussions and lessen the polemics attendant to them, the FAO report offers and illuminates much factual information that is encompassed by biotechnology research, applications, and distribution. In fact, The State of Food and Agriculture: Agricultural Biotechnology: Meeting the Needs of the Poor? lays out a coherent understanding of what biotechnology is, and offers a clear exposition for general readers—as well as policy and scientific specialists—of