The Controversy on Agro-biotechnologies

Biotechnologies are techniques that aim the industrial exploitation of microorganisms and cells they are
used in a range of production sectors, therefore, they constitute more than a specific economic sector.
Biotechnologies are capable of acting on the whole tecnicque system and be applied in various domains.
The reseach of agro-biotechnologies is on the hands of 15 big corporations: 13 are north-american and 2 are
european that work mainly with genetic engineering (GM seeds) and agro-chemicals (pesticides and
fertilizers).

Different meaning appropriations of food security that lead to different strategies

- What are the causes of hunger and undernutrition?

Growing production to a growing population x Multidimensional problem

A variety of scientific studies that show different conclusions on the risks and benefits of agro-
biotechnology or our concrete need for them
 Scientific studies say that GM crops ...
Are the solution to feed a growing global population Cannot solve the problem of world hunger but
distract from its real causes poverty, lack of
access to food and, increasingly, lack of access to land
to grow it on

Are an extension of natural breeding and do not pose different Are laboratory-made, using technology that is totally different from
risks natural breeding methods,
and pose different risks from non-GM crops

Are safe to eat and can be more nutritious than naturally bred crops Can be toxic, allergenic or less nutritious than their natural
counterparts
Are strictly regulated for safety Are not adequately regulated to ensure safety

Increase crop productivity Do not increase yield potential

Reduce pesticide use Do not reduce pesticide use but increase it

Benefit farmers Create serious problems for farmers, including herbicide-tolerant

superweeds, compromised
soil quality, and increased disease susceptibility in crops
Bring economic benefits Have mixed economic effects
Can help solve problems caused by climate change Harm soil quality, disrupt ecosystems, and reduce biodiversity

Reduce energy use Are as energy-hungry as any other chemically-farmed crops

 A critic view of GMOs claims:
Theres an Agro-biotechnology Lobby: an interrelation between scientific studies, public polices and
commercial interests.
Food securitys inattention to the political economy of the corporate food regime blinds it to the adverse
effects of that regime.

That is,
Agricultural biotechnology have been profit-driven rather than need-driven.
Some arguments:
A large and growing body of scientific and other authoritative evidence shows that these scientific claims
about the benefits of GMOs are not true.
The model of herbicide resistant crops: Monsanto's "Roundup Ready" soybeans seeds and Monsanto's
herbicide Roundup
BT
Conclusion: These technologies respond to the need of biotechnology companies to intensify farmers'
dependence upon seeds protected by so-called "intellectual property rights" which conflict directly
with the rights of farmers to reproduce, share or store seeds
 Risks x Regulation
The global fight for market share would lead companies to influence public polices to massively deploy transgenic crops
around the world without proper advance testing of short- or long-term impacts on human health and
ecosystems.
LESS THAN 5% OF THE BUDGET OF THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE
GOES TO FOOD SAFETY, REGULATION, RESEARCH AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

BUDGET SUMMARY AND ANNUAL PERFORMANCE PLAN - U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE - PROJECTIONS FOR 2015
( http://www.obpa.usda.gov/budsum/FY15budsum.pdf )
RISKS : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_ztZGbLEJ0

An agro-biotechnology lobby ?

http://www.dailycensored.com/monsanto-and-the-us-military-working-together-to-target-gmo-activists/
In the United States, private sector pressure led the White House to decree "no substantial difference" between altered and
normal seeds, thus evading normal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
testing. Confidential documents made public in an on-going class action lawsuit have revealed that the FDA's own scientists
do not agree with this determination. One reason is that many scientists are concerned that the large scale use of
transgenic crops poses a series of environmental risks that threaten the sustainability of agriculture.

WIKILEAKS: US GOVERNMENT AND GMOS http://www.huffingtonpost.com/leslie-hatfield/new-analysis-

of-wikileaks_b_3306842.html
The questionable honesty of the State Department's messaging. For example, "[t]he State Department encouraged
embassies to 'publicize that agricultural biotechnology can help address the food crisis," when evidence that it could was
simply not there. In fact, a2009 report from the Union of Concerned Scientists debunked the industry line that GE crops
outperform conventional ones, and as herbicide-resistant weeds have become more common, GE crops yields have fallen.
Besides, when it comes to hunger we know the problem has more to do with money than food, since we currently produce
much more food than it would take to feed the entire world's population. Much of the world just can't afford it
 What could be an alternative?
Food Sovereignty as a better concept? 7 principles.
a term elaborate by Via Campesina in 1996, asserts the right of people to define their own food systems. Food sovereignty allocates
the individuals who produce, distribute and consume food at the center of decisions on food systems and policies, rather than the
corporations and market institutions they believe have come to dominate the global food system.
Its the right of the peoples to define their own production strategies and polices of production, distribution and consumption of the
food that guarantee the right to food to the whole population, on the basis of the small and mdium productions, respecting their own cultures and the
diversity of the campesines ways of production, commercialization and administration, in which the women play a fundamental role.
o direito dos povos a definir suas prprias polticas e estratgias sustentveis de produo, distribuio e consumo de alimentos que garantam o direito
alimentao a toda a populao, com base na pequena e mdia produo, respeitando suas prprias culturas e a diversidade dos modos camponeses de
produo, de comercializao e de gesto, nos quais, a mulher desempenha um papel fundamental."

http://www.mpabrasil.org.br/soberania
http://commiekitsch.org/food-sovereignty/

Other technology strategies

http://monthlyreview.org/2009/07/01/agroecology-small-farms-and-food-sovereignty
PLANAPO
PLANO-POLITICA NACIONAL DE AGROECOLOGIA E DE PRODUO ORGANICA
QUESTIONS