1 July 2011
No. 1473
Dr Dar addressing the participants of the media colloquium on biotechnology at the 20th AMIC annual conference.
Winning the race to feed the world
Demystifying crop biotechnology in the fight against global hunger and poverty “Every day, we are constantly faced with the challenge of meeting the food needs of more than 9 billion people by 2050, with shrinking land and increasingly scarce energy and water resources. There are one billion poor and hungry people today. We need to increase food productivity by as much as 70% to meet present and future demands. It is therefore an ethical imperative to keep the technological portfolio open to biotechnology and genetic engineering,” said Director General William Dar.
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ddressing participants of the media colloquium on “Demystifying Crop Biotechnology: Issues and Concepts for the Asian Media,” Dr Dar emphasized, however, that “rigorous regulatory and safety assessment processes are a key, in view of the public’s skepticism about the claims of scientists on the safety of genetically engineered foods.” “Public-funded research will bring to an end the monopoly on biotechnology products now largely enjoyed by multinational seed companies. Public-
funded initiatives can focus on achieving sustainable food production, giving farmers access to transgenic seeds, and improving the lives of the poor by making major food crops more productive, nutritious and affordable,” Dr Dar stressed. Understanding and enhancing the role of the media in communicating crop biotechnology was the focus of the media colloquium held on 27 June as part of the 20th annual conference of the Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC). to page 2 ...4