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Oakland Tribune, The (CA) June 21, 2003 Section: Local & Regional News U.S. blasted for genetic solution to food scarcity Douglas Fischer, STAFF WRITER An international conference in Sacramento exploring how technology can help solve world hunger has sparked a global firestorm against U.S. efforts to promote genetically modified crops. More than 150 delegations from 100 countries -- including 75 foreign agriculture ministers -- will gather next week to discuss ways new products and research can reduce hunger in developing nations. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman kicks off the three-day Ministerial Conference and Expo on Agricultural Science and Technology on Monday. The invitation-only summit has other countries and international aid organizations claiming the Bush administration is placing agribusiness interests ahead of the world's poor. Thousands of activists, aca- demics and leaders of international organizations plan to mobilize in Sacramento to present an alternative: that distribution, not crop yield, is the problem. "We can produce enough food," said Drinah Nyirenda, director of the Programme Against Malnutrition in Zambia, who flew to California this week. "The problem is some of the international issues that relate to support." Her country recently declined a shipment of U.S. corn after learning it contained genetically modified stock, Nyirenda said. "To say no on behalf of people who are starving is really tough ... (but) there are alternatives out there." The U.S. Department of Agriculture will spend $3 million on the conference, which features sessions on irrigation, financial markets, forest management and transportation, among others. Biotechnology will be an "important aspect" of the conference, but just one of many, said J.B. Penn, the agency's undersecretary for farm and foreign agricultural services. "For the people who are chronically hungry, this is to try and help them do some simple things," he said. "We don't need a lot of advanced technology, but there's a lot of technology that can help them produce more food and better food." Biotech crops are grown primarily for animal feed. But in the Third World, those crops stand a greater chance of ending up on the dinner table -- a typical diet in Zambia can be 70 percent maize, Nyirenda said. Genetically modified seeds are engineered to repel insects and withstand weed killers. The result, according to proponents, is higher yielding crops that are easier to grow and maintain. In the 1990s, American farmers began embracing the new technology, and now 75 percent of soybeans, 34 percent of corn and 71 percent of cotton come from gene-altered seeds, according to the USDA. An agency study concluded bio-engineered resistance reduced total pesticide use by 6.2 percent in 1997 -- savings that can be significant for a country that sprays 164 million pounds of herbicides on corn alone. But consumers, particularly in Europe, and agencies such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, remain wary, saying more must be known about health and environmental impacts. "The alternatives are out there -- sustainable, environmentally sound, socially sound agriculture has existed for a millennium," said Antonia Juhasz, project manager for San Francisco-based International Forum on Globalization.
"What needs to happen is the trade system has to be reassembled to favor the small farmers instead of the multinational companies." Wire services contributed to this report. Contact Douglas Fischer at dfischer@angnewspapers.com .
(c) 2003 The Oakland Tribune. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of Media NewsGroup, Inc. by NewsBank, Inc.
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