Environmental Implications and the Potential of Biotechnology - Essay Example

Environmental Implications and the Potential of Biotechnology Copyright Rising fuel prices and increasing population pressures, especially from the developing world, are likely to continue to force increased food prices. This has been in evidence in the relatively recent past as international agencies have presented warnings about the dire consequences of rising food prices on the poor. Thus, it makes sense to try to find ways in which biotechnology research can be applied to maintain and to improve standards of living for the poor. African nations are amongst the poorest in the world and the state of agriculture in several of these nations is appalling. Subsistence farmers who have been neglected cannot continue to produce food that can feed nations. This essay presents a discussion about the need for international agencies and the developed world to come to the aid of the poor by sharing the benefits of biotechnology research on affordable terms. Without efforts to share the fruits of biotechnology research it is likely that the future of humanity cannot be secured as profound change will be thrust on societies. Declaration I certify that, except where cited in the text, this work is the result of research carried out by the author of this study. _____________________________________________ Name and Signature of Author October 2008 This write - up is presented in fulfilment for the requirements related to a research essay on Environmental Implications and the Potential of Biotechnology. Biographical Sketch Acknowledgements Contents Introduction 1 Biotechnology for the Poor and Developing World 3 Conclusion 20 Bibliography/ References 22 (This page intentionally blank) Introduction Although several definitions exist for biotechnology, one of the more general and appealing definitions is “the use of living organisms, cells or cellular components for the production of compounds or precise genetic improvement of living things for the benefit of man”. 1 Biotechnology has assumed a certain prominence in the relatively recent past despite having been practiced for thousands of years. Progress in biotechnology was enabled as a result of the twentieth century advances in physics, chemistry, engineering, computer application, and information technology and it was these advances that resulted in the evolution of modern biotechnology. Rapidly increasing food prices which have made it difficult for the poor to afford food and a growing awareness of environmental problems that have been caused by a predominate use of fossil fuels have made advances in biotechnology as being welcome because these advances offer a certain hope that they will be able to assist with meeting needs arising out of an exponential growth of population and industry. 2 3 Although the recent advances in biotechnology are promising, problems exist for the poorer countries of the world because they are often the most needy and yet the least able to benefit from the advances in technology. For Africa, farming is the main source of income for about two – thirds of the population, yet the crop yields remain extremely low because of a lack of mechanization and poor use of pesticides as well as a lack of access to the benefits that have been made available biotechnology research. If crop species that have been developed by using techniques made available as a result of advances in genetic engineering and biotechnology are not used then it is difficult to increase yields that can feed growing populations. Thus, the application of biotechnology to increase the supply of food and agriculture has become the focus of a “global war of rhetoric”. 4 However, not everyone is optimistic about biotechnology and the skeptics have presented dangers associated with corporate takeover of global food supply, environmental catastrophe due to unforeseen defects in genetically altered living species and a worsening of food and hunger as a result of biotechnology going wrong. Thus, genetically altered crops and species have to be carefully tested for safety even though it is being opined in popular media that crop production may not be able to sustain the growth in human population over the next fifty years. 5 Because of the fact that the judicious use of biotechnology is now something that must be considered as being essential if humanity is to continue to sustain its increasing number with a reasonable standard of living, it is likely to both interesting and useful to discuss the environmental implications and the potential of biotechnology. This research essay presents a discussion related to the previously mentioned topic and tries to examine how biotechnology can assist the poor and developing nations in an era of rapidly increasing food prices and dwindling fossil fuel resources. Biotechnology for the Poor and Developing World Biotechnology is about using living organisms or substances from living organisms to modify or to redesign a living product for achieving practical benefits. Genetic engineering or recombinant DNA techniques are now being widely used to breed plants to increase crop yields, improve plant resistance to disease or weather conditions such as low temperature and to enhance the nutritional content of foods from crops. Biotechnology is also being used to improve crop planting practices, design living species that minimize waste and to develop species that mature relatively quickly. However, biotechnology is more than genetic engineering and genomics, which is the study of DNA sequences associated with living species, assists with the understanding of how living organisms function within their ecosystem and the manner in which selective breeding is possible. 6 Biotechnology has been used to improve the yield of pearl millet in India before a particular species of the crop succumbs to a downy mildew epidemic. The availability of disease free banana species to poor farmers in Kenya also depends on what was made possible as a result of the use of biotechnology. Other examples of what biotechnology can do for agriculture include development of crop species that are more tolerant of acid soils, making it possible to increase yields in soils that could not have supported decent agriculture. Nutritionally enhanced crops that can be developed using biotechnology can assist with improving the nutrition intake of those who depend on staple foods such as rice, cassava, bean, maize or wheat etc. Apart from agriculture, biotechnology is also being used to develop more beneficial fish and livestock species and better foods that provide superior nutrition for these animals. Biotechnology has also made it possible to develop better vaccines for animals and far more effective diagnostic techniques. 7 Although the benefits of the so called Green Revolution can make a big difference for poor farmers in developing countries, especially those that live in Africa, barriers do exist for what has been gained from biotechnology research. Research does cost money and many of the poorest nations in the world are able to offer only a limited market potential that cannot attract the interest of those who make large and risky private-sector investments to apply biotechnology to solve food problems. Thus, the emphasis is towards conducting research that is directed towards providing for the needs of large and rich markets and the needs of the poorest remain unfulfilled. Economic and regulatory issues associated with a leading edge technology do not provide an impetus for biotechnology research that is directed towards solving the problems of poor markets. It is important to remember that biotechnology research needs to be well regulated because scientists that are dealing with designing new living species need to be very careful about not producing something that will create new dangers for the living world. 8 Thus, if the poor are to benefit from biotechnology research, it is important that incentives are provided to those who have the knowledge and the capability for undertaking biotechnology research to work on the problems of the poor. Efficient regulation of biotechnology research, stronger intellectual property right protection and government incentives for research that benefits the poor as well as financial prizes for such endeavors have been mentioned as being useful. 9 If farmers in poor countries are to benefit from the biotechnology revolution then they must be able to gain access to the fruits of this revolution on affordable terms. However, the problem is that a vast majority of those who are active in trying to create transgenic crop varieties are from the private sector and these firms are incapable of providing the fruits of their labor on terms that do not make sense to them. Developing countries also need to improve on their capacity for policy formulation, research capacity, financial resources and marketing channels, protection of intellectual property framework and their regulatory capacity for food safety if these nations are to be in a better position to benefit from advances in biotechnology. Often the poorer nations lack the capability that is required for meeting their commitments and to comply with the international instruments that have been for biotechnology. Developing nations have a limited capacity for analysis of investment options and for establishing priorities that are likely to provide the greatest benefit to them and these nations also have a limited technical, legal and administrative capacity for constructing a framework for the regulation of biotechnology.10 The biggest challenge that is faced by developing nations in their attempts to adopt and to benefit from biotechnology is providing resources that are needed to cover the high cost of input and development. After having built an enabling environment, it is necessary to integrate biotechnology with conventional research programs. International assistance is only likely to provide funds for the development of indigenous research programs if genuine benefits can be identified for benefitting all humanity or if outstanding opportunities for research are available in a nation. However, assistance may be possible if it can be demonstrated that the national population is likely to benefit substantially from being provided with some product of biotechnology research that can make a significant difference locally. 11 Amongst the poorest nations on earth are located in Africa and it is likely to be instructive to examine what is being done to improve the lot of the subsistence farmers and to benefit from biotechnology in the region. Although the previous discussion will logically suggest that governments and international assistance for Africa will be moving towards trying to enhance the prospects for agriculture in the region, the actual situation that is unfolding is rather different. The application of agricultural technology and productivity in the African region remains the lowest in the world and growth rates in improvements are also the lowest. The incomes that subsistence farmers are able to derive from agriculture are in fact declining rather than improving with the passage of time. People are losing interest in agriculture and the typical African farmer is a woman rather than a man. She tends to her crops on a small plot of land near her home without any fertilizers, pesticides or organized labor and without having the benefits that can be derived from the fruits of biotechnology. Although the poor in Africa have more secure access to land as compared to other parts of the world, little is being done to encourage organized farming that benefits from scientific and managerial expertise. International donor support has been stagnant along with new public spending on agriculture and Africa still relies heavily on international assistance. Agriculture itself has fallen out of favor amongst those who provide international development assistance. A vast majority of NGOs working in Africa have taken a hostile attitude towards science – intensive agriculture, preferring organic farming. Although international assistance has been very much forthcoming to fight disease, including malaria, all interest in agriculture has been lost. 12 Agriculture in Africa remains heavily dependent on rain, which is uncertain and often inadequate, because attempts have not been made to try to develop irrigation for farming. Thus, although a need exists for crops that have been designed using biotechnology to thrive in difficult conditions without much water, such crop plants are just not available to farmers despite successes by biotechnology companies in developing plant species with an “environmental stress tolerance” . Monsanto, Pioneer-DuPont and Syngentia Biotechnology are examples of firms which have been successful in developing hardy crop species that are likely to do well in Africa, but such species have never been provided to the African farmer. Without irrigation, the planting season in Africa has to be precisely timed to the arrival of rains and the land can only be utilised for farming for as long as rain provides water for the crops that have been planted. Thus, should rains fail many mouths go hungry and it is impossible to increase yields from land that can be used for agriculture because it is only available for a few months in a year. About 20 % of African lands are under threat of draught each year and although this is less than the figures for India, China, United States, Europe and Lain America the better figures are the result of a lack of technological protection against draught. Thus, the public-sector will have to demonstrate a more science friendly posture and donors will have to provide more funds if the willingness of private-sector biotechnology research firms to share their discoveries can be expected to benefit the poor in Africa. It is possible that concerns associated with the safety of crop species that have been designed by biotechnology research may have been a reason for a cautious approach taken by the donors and African leaders. 13 Farming is a very ancient activity but farmers have had little control over the biological processes that have provided humanity with sustenance, until recently. Application of micronutrients has now replaced application of fertilizers and insecticides have to be judiciously used to protect crops so that they are not eaten away by infection. Agriculture has been very exposed to the elements and with the uncertainty that can be associated with rainfall, it is now necessary to put into place irrigation systems. Land quality often has a substantial impact on yields in agriculture and this is especially true for the equatorial regions of the world, including most of Africa. Production of most staple foods including grains and rice requires the availability of a relatively large amount of water for irrigation and such production is also labour intensive. Thus, agricultural equipment is essential because muscle power alone cannot provide what is needed for high yields. In the developed world, farming is a highly specialized occupation and every means available to science is often used to increase agricultural production. Unlike the developing world, agricultural markets in the developed world are well developed and they provide adequate returns to the farmers to sustain their scientific agriculture and a decent living standard. Thus, the United States of America has been able to double its agricultural production within the last century and this has provided substantial returns on the investment that has been made on agriculture. Governments in the developed world are far more willing and able to enhance the knowledge and skills of their farmers as compared to the developing world and extensification and intensification are being used to increase food supplies. 14 If food was in short supply in the developed world, extensification can be attempted by increasing the area that is being used for farming. In Europe and North America, land within the temperate regions can be pressed into use for farming to increase food supplies. Africa and Latin America also offer possibilities for extensification provided the world community is willing to extend assistance with the development of agriculture in order to enhance the global supply of food. However, Asia does not offer substantial opportunities for extensification because of its substantial population. Thus, investing in agriculture in Africa does make sense in the longer term because the extra produce can feed global markets and investing in intensification will reduce the need to harvest vast areas quickly. It makes sense to assist farmers in Africa and the developing world to benefit from the Green Revolution which was made possible by advances in biotechnology. Evidence suggests that it is still possible to continue to increase agricultural yields and that the potential of biotechnology has not yet been exhausted. Thus, farmers will not be compelled to utilize all the land that is available to them, but it is important that the fruits of the Green Revolution are more widely shared and it should be possible for the agricultural output in Africa to be increased instead of letting it grow worse as it is right now. 15 Although the growth of human population is now not as rapid as it was in the centuries gone by, it should be understood that there is no central authority which exists to strike a balance between the supply of food and its demand. However, governments do have a lot of influence and are often able to exercise certain control over markets. It must be understood that the demand for an agricultural commodity is strongly influenced by tastes and the preferences of consumers, but it should also be understood that it is price that ultimately decides about the demand. It is possible for a government to stabilize prices in agricultural markets by maintaining a fund for market intervention, deciding on the commodities that are able to be traded in a market and by ensuring that adequate information is available to everyone about agricultural production. Farm income can be enhanced by asking farms to cut back on the production of certain produce if the projected demand and supply in the market are unfavourable. Commodity price supports make it possible for governments to encourage farmers to favour certain produce which may be desirable for a nation. Thus, it is possible for governments to stimulate agricultural production and to encourage farmers. However, in many developing nations, including those from Africa, governments have done relatively little to ensure that farmers are encouraged. It is generally desirable to maintain a long-term equilibrium in relation to the supply and demand for agricultural commodities in a nation. Rising demand generally increases prices as does dwindling supply. Thus, a government must make efforts to manage the supply of commodities so that farmers are adequately compensated and the masses can afford food. Discouraged farmers are only likely to result in increased prices for the basic necessities of life. Researchers have predicted a scarcity of food between 1990 and 2020 and coupled with this there is expectation for increasing demand. Thus, it is necessary that efforts are made to try to increase food production so that prices can be maintained. Increasing food prices can result in a disaster for the many millions of those in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia who find it difficult to subsist even when food prices are low. 16 In an era of globalization food markets do feel the impact of trade distortions along with other commodities that are traded internationally. If traders are exporting food to earn foreign exchange at prices that are above those that can be sustained in the domestic market, then prices are likely to shot up and domestic consumers will be aggrieved. If price supports are used in the developed world to ensure income for farmers, then it is likely that such farmers can compete effectively in international markets on prices. Such a situation is likely to cause difficulties for those international consumers who are forced to purchase on the international markets because of a domestic shortage and developing nations are very much affected. Currency over-valuation can hurt exporters as consumers rush to purchase imported commodities that are artificially cheap. Thus, the local farmers can be hurt if a national currency is overvalued. In an era of free trade, it is likely to become increasingly difficult for national governments to intervene in the free movement of agricultural commodities across their borders because producers are free to export to places where they earn more and importers have to pay the prices that international markets will sustain. Multinational firms can often force governments to race to the bottom in their efforts to attract production and service activities, even though the multinationals are often willing to invest in low-wage economies. However, although wages are not the only consideration in multinational investment, a race to the bottom approach often leads to a domestic economy that is so poor that it cannot sustain decent standards and this has an impact on the capacity of the domestic agriculture market. 17 The agriculture strategy of a nation should be directed towards making intelligent choices so that the most can be gained by an import-export mix for agricultural products. In other words, it is not necessary to plant every crop in a nation because it may be possible to get good export prices for certain crops and to import other agricultural commodities cheaply. However, formulating an import – export mix strategy for a developing country needs shrewd policy formulation which is often not attempted by poor countries. Efforts should be made by developing nations to exploit comparative advantage in international trade. It is likely that as GATT negotiations progress governments will find it increasingly difficult to control and restrict international trade in agriculture and this means that if the world shifts towards scarcity of food, the poor will suffer most because they will have to pay international market prices. Thus, something has to be done to equitably share the fruits of biotechnology around the world so that everyone can sustain at least some minimal standards. It is possible to gain from free trade but as mentioned previously, the import-export mix strategy has to be judiciously optimized. Farmers from around the world do have an interest in free trade, but they have to be guided by information and with dwindling fossil fuel reserves it becomes difficult to transport huge quantities over long distances. This means that a biotechnology should be used to sustain local communities. 18 A lack of fertilizer application, shortage of water for irrigation, use of low yield crop species, a lack of market access infrastructure and judicious planning have already been mentioned as being responsible for the poor state of agriculture in Africa and other parts of the developing world. However, it is expected that although population growth rates will slow down on the average, they are expected to be sustained for Africa and the developing world. This means that the demand for food will continue to increase and something will have to be done to increase food availability in poor and underdeveloped nations. Horticulture has attracted the attention of farmers in many developing countries because although horticultural ventures are more risky, they can provide higher returns than staple food production. Fruit production is both lucrative and exportable and so also is the production of cut flowers. Thus, governments in developing must try to find ways to produce a balanced agricultural policy or action plan that can somehow make farmers deliver what is required at affordable prices for domestic consumption needs to be fulfilled. 19 Energy is needed for productive mechanized agriculture and fertilizers. Transportation of food and market access for agriculture produce also needs fuel. With increasing fossil fuel prices, mechanized farming, fertilizers and transport of food to markets have become more expensive and it is likely that fuel prices may continue to rise in the future. This means that the price of food also goes up and the pressure to find environment friendly and highly concentrated energy fuels at reasonable prices is intense. Although bio fuels are capable of being produced from a variety of agricultural products including maize, palm oil, soybean and rapeseed it has to be understood that what goes into producing enough to fill the tank of a sport utility vehicle only once can feed a single individual for a year. About 240 kg of maize is required for producing 100 litre of ethanol and this means that if new means for operating mechanization and transport are not found and bio fuels are used, then a substantial amount of food production will have to be diverted for producing fuel. However, many landlocked countries are finding that they can justify using bio fuels in an era of high fossil fuel prices. Nevertheless, in the long term bio fuels are perhaps not a smart idea and what may be required is to try to grow what is needed in the immediate vicinity of human habitats so that a greater self reliance is achieved with communication systems linking these habitats. Energy and food production will then be optimized for small human communities and biotechnology is likely to play an important role in designing species that can sustain such habitats. 20 Although market distortions are produced when nations continue to protect their agricultural sector through subsidies, incentives and support prices or regional trade agreements, evidence does suggest that the developing world has tried to accommodate some of the least developed nations as preferential trading partners. OECD countries have tried to include sugar producing nations in Africa and the Caribbean in their preferential trading agreements and this has enabled such nations to earn higher prices in the international market. However, it is questionable if this is enough for improving living standards and agriculture, even though this is a step in the right direction. Full liberalization of trade in agricultural products is expected to increase world food prices by 5% and the developing nations are expected to see an increase in food prices of about 9%. Average output growth in food production in the developing world is expected to fall to a 0.3% growth level if full market liberalization for agricultural products is implemented. Thus, governments still have to think in terms of how best to manage agriculture in the context of their domestic economy so that the poorest people have a better chance of leading a decent life. However, the previously mentioned is not possible unless those who have scientific knowledge can at least provide the fruits of their research to the developing world in an affordable manner so that humanity as a whole is able to gain. Unless the pressing problems of energy resources to support the current lifestyle of the human race are somehow solved, societies around the world are expected to undergo profound transitions that will see a need emerging for a greater self-reliance and satisfaction of needs from the immediate environment. Even if fossil fuel for international trade was abundantly available, it does not make sense to haul huge consignments of commodities across the oceans to waste nature’s resources if local solutions can be applied. Biotechnology offers the key that can be used to try to find what can work best for the local community, even if humanity may be able to switch to wind assisted ocean shipping to keep global trade going in order to provide the best to everyone from all parts of the world. 21 Conclusion Governments and international agencies must act to find ways in which biotechnology can be used to solve the urgent problems of the poor from all around the world. It makes sense to try to produce more food locally so that the local poor can maintain at least some quality of life. Increasing fuel prices cannot justify massive flows of agricultural products around the world and it is important to try not to waste precious resources. Thus, the benefits of biotechnology should be made available to the poor on affordable terms. (This page intentionally blank) Bibliography/ References 1. Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations. The State of Food and Agriculture. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2004. 2. Jördening, Hans – Joachim and Winter Josef. Environmental Biotechnology. Wiley, VCH, 2005. 3. Murphy, Denis. Plant Breeding and Biotechnology: Societal Context and the Future of Agriculture. Cambridge University Press, 2007. 4. Nair, A. J. Introduction to Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering. Infinity Science Press, 2007. 5. Paarlberg, Robert. Starved for Science. Harvard College, 2008. 6. Southgate, Douglas et al. The World Food Economy. Blackwell Publishing, 2006. 7. The World Bank. World Development Report 2008: Agriculture for Development. The World Bank, 2008. Read More