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GMO: The good, bad and the not so ugly

With hundreds of debates surrounding GMO foods, oppositions from Anti GMO advocacy groups, labeling GMO food standard; I have always been inquisitive about this topic and concerned with the continuous intensity of the ongoing conflict.
GMO maize. PHOTO: euobserver.com

GMO maize. PHOTO: euobserver.com

With hundreds of debates surrounding GMO foods, oppositions from Anti GMO advocacy groups, labeling GMO food standard; I have always been inquisitive about this topic and concerned with the continuous intensity of the ongoing conflict. Like many I was uninformed and just joined the Anti GMO bandwagon without fully understanding it or being knowledgeable about it. As we all know knowledge is power, the more you seek, the more you learn and the more articles and books I read on Agriculture, Food Security, Scientific Research the more I feel puzzled about where I stand. There are grains of truth in both sides of the argument, this article is written with the intent to provide information on this highly debated topic

It can be frustrating to decipher through the mass information on the Internet and determine what sources are credible. What exactly does GMO mean?

“Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) is any organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques (i.e., a genetically engineered organism) meaning a plant, animal, microorganism or other organism whose genetic makeup has been modified using recombinant DNA methods”. “This new science creates unstable combinations of plant, animal, bacterial and viral genes that do not occur in nature or through traditional crossbreeding methods”.

In terms of food or how it applies to farming, this is done for plants or crops to improve their durability, through situations such as drought tolerance, disease resistance, or to increase their nutritional value. These changes are also aimed at increasing crop yield and lowering costs. To better understand this, it basically means we are altering the gene of a plant to prevent it from disease and increasing its nutritional value by engineering a crop’s immunity by applying basic science. I don’t claim to be an expert in Gene Transfer I stand to be corrected, isn’t Vaccination similar? We vaccinate a child to prevent them from disease and build their immune system. “Vaccination is the administration of antigenic material (a vaccine) to stimulate an individual’s immune system to develop adaptive immunity to a pathogen”. Do people realize the ideology of GMO’s and Vaccines are more similar than we want to admit? How do you get to be anti GMO but pro Vaccines? It makes me wonder are we just uncomfortable with change? Or are we making decision based on emotion rather than scientific research and results?

THE GOOD
• Everyone is aware of the world population increasing to 9 billion people by 2050; global food production will have to double to support the population increase and prevent starvation. Research as shown that GMO’s crops are easier to grow because they have stronger ability to resist pests, a common problem in farming. This attribute helps farmers with producing greater amounts of food.
GMO plays a role in providing farmers with potentially larger profits and it’s also economically efficient. Farmers will have a higher likelihood of increased income, which provides financial stability, re-investment into their business and an opportunity to educate their children.

Farmers have low production cost by having reduced use for pesticides and herbicides, using less chemical and fewer losses sustained from crop disease resistant.

GMO would eventually help the environment by combating deforestation. To sufficiently feed the growing population of the world, deforestation is needed. But with genetically modified crops, the use of this method will be minimized, meaning we can increase food production on our same land size.

Biotechnology has the potential to create more nutritious crops by having the ability to manipulate food and increase desired nutrients. An example is the introduction of Vit A (Golden Rice), which could possibly save the world from starvation and malnutrition. I know the Golden Rice is currently focusing on Asia but in “Nigeria VitA deficiency affects nearly one in three Children under the age of five, increasing their vulnerability to immune system weakness and blindness”…. Harvest Plus.

Better calorie consumption and dietary quality means farmers are healthy and can work harder as a result of increased income
It will decrease food prices, advanced crops and lower costs can lead to cheaper food. This will certainly help families who cannot afford to buy food, buy nutritious food and eventually prevent starvation

THE BAD
• GM crops may pose a threat to farmers who grow non-engineered crops. Inter-breeding from neighboring farms cannot be controlled. Example: Corn experts claimed Mexican corn (criollo) was bound to mix with improved varieties from the United States over the years. Experts claimed contamination in Mexican corn varieties was due to smuggling of GM seeds in the Mexican markets. If you are surviving on a harvest and you have a choice to plant between a corn seed that will give you 10tons per hectare or 20tons per hectare, you will take the 20tons seed presumably.

Farmers depend on seed companies every planting season. Which is unfair to billions of poor farmers who rely on saving next year’s seed from their harvest. It can create superweed; because engineered crops can act as mediators in transferring genes to wild plants, which can create more weeds.

Genetically modified foods may pose significant allergy risks to people. Gene flow or Gene swamping may result in the extinction of a rare or wild species. Vandana Shiva an anti globalization advocate from India rejected the Vit A (Golden Rice). She warns about the demise of bathua, a popular leavy vegetable rich in Vit A and grown in India was pushed to extinction by herbicides used on a new western varieties of wheat.

… the not so UGLY
African countries like Burkina Faso, Egypt, Sudan and South Africa are Pro GMO, experts believe other African countries are rejecting GMOs based on the European influence, could this be true?
“The delays (in Africa) can be partly attributed to technology intolerance, much of which has been headed down by European anti-biotechnology”- Calestous Juma “There are several different channels of external influence on Africa policy area in this regard and Europeans dominate most of these channels” – Robert Paarlberg.

It’s important to note that developing countries face a separate kind of risk from industrialized countries. In retrospect, these are countries that have government assisted programs and unemployment benefits. However, everyone is entitled to an opinion but please lets not get consumed with GMO debates, which might eventually deprive the hungry people food or the farmers working hard to increase their income. The debate over GMOs has been a distraction that sidetracks progress on the development of a common agenda to solving the global food security problem. In the words of Florence Wambugu, CEO, Africa Harvest

“You people in the developed world are certainly free to debate the merits of genetically modified foods, but can we please eat first?”
Have you ever heard that an African country produced more tonnage per hectare on any crop in comparison to any other developed country? It’s usually the other way round. Africa’s crop production per unit per land is the lowest in the world. An acre in Asia or Europe with added chemicals usually produces about six times the cereal grain harvested in an acre in Africa. Pest and Disease is usually a major challenge and it account for 30% of African yield losses.

In India, after the introduction of GMO’s Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton it showed that Bt cotton increased yields, profits and the living standards of small holding farmers. Bt cotton added US$9.4billion worth of value to Indian farmers, cut insecticide use by half, helped to double the yield and turned the country from a cotton importer into a major exporter.

With our current economy it’s no news we need to diversify our economy. Nigerian cotton farmers’ contribution to our GDP continues to drop from 25% in 1980 to 5% as of recent. In a survey conducted by the Central Bank of Nigeria, Federal Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development, Federal Ministry of trade & Investment and the National Bureau of Statistics showed that only 18 states produced cotton on a total of 399.87 hectares of land in Nigeria.

The constant challenge with our cotton farmers are the quality of seeds Meanwhile other African countries have being growing Bt cotton. Burkina Faso have being growing cotton for almost eight years. Its estimated Bt cotton adds US$70million per year to their economy. If Bt cotton is introduced to Nigeria, imagine what this crop can add to our economy. I will be optimistic and compare what we can generate with Indian’s $9.4 billion. We haven’t even talked about the potential of other crops like Cassava, Oil Palm, Tomato etc.

It would be unwise to ban GMO from foods or to fail to keep their use under scrutiny.
It’s no doubt Nigeria needs to improve its food regulations methods and policies. We need to tighten up and have some sort of fundamental regulation, product registration, effective evaluation to enable us explore these new biotechnologies. We need to be pro science and encourage the next generation to be scientists not politicians so we don’t have to rely on other countries doing our research and dictating our practices. Having worked in the agro sector for a couple of years, it amazing how many great, smart Scientist, Agronomist and Professors I have come across but we do not support them to explore their full potential.

I don’t necessarily agree with the regulatory policy of making Biotech industries conduct and use their own research as the only regulatory standard. This is a no brainer due to conflict of interest. The argument is the increasing control large corporations have over biotech and agriculture and the effect of poor farmers. Example: Percy Schmeister vs Monsanto. In 1998 this was a sensational case, one still widely cited by the anti-GM proponents. Schmeister claimed his farm was contaminated and claimed the company’s seeds trespassed his farm. Although the conventional seeds he bought from his store might have being contaminated.. However we have to remember that Organic farmers have a target market as well. What happens when GM crops contaminate their crops? How do we avoid this?

Within the scientific community, the debate over the safety of GM foods is over. The overwhelming conclusion in the words of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, is “Consuming foods containing ingredients derived from GM crops is no riskier than consuming the same foods containing ingredients from crop plants modified by conventional plant improvement techniques.”
Lets be clear, The U.S. National Academy of Sciences “no adverse health effects attributed to genetic engineering have been documented in the human population,” and a report issued by the European Commission made the same claim. The World Health Organization has concluded that GM foods “are not likely, nor have been shown, to present risks for human health.”

I was excited when I found out the Nigerian Ministry of Environment, Agriculture and Technology had an experts meeting in Abuja recently discussing the debate over GMO. The Director-General, National Biotechnology Development Agency, Prof Lucy Ogbadu encouraged farmers to take advantage of the modified technologies to increase yields. I hope Nigerians will embrace and be open to the idea of GMO’s to help our Agriculture sectors but most importantly increase food production to prevent starvation. Do you support one side of the debate? Do you see benefits? Do you have concerns? Or are you on the fence? Please feel free to email me lets discuss.

References
Pringle, Peter. Food, Inc.: Mendel to Monsanto—the Promises and Perils of the Biotech Harvest. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2003.
Thurow, Roger. The Last Hunger Season: A Year in an African Farm Community on the Brink of Change. New York: PublicAffairs, 2012.
Juma, Calestous. The New Harvest: Agricultural Innovation in Africa. New York: Oxford University Press, January 2011.
Juma, Calestous. “A Plea for Agricultural Innovation.” Speech, McGill University, Montreal, Canada, June 3, 2013.
Babatunde Jimoh. Boosting Cotton Production: Why Nigeria needs biosafety law. Vanguard, February 22, 2015.

In this article

23 Comments

  • Author’s gravatar

    The real truth behind GMO’s ??? Described very well by the public interest attorney, Steven Druker in his book: “Altered Genes, Twisted Truth: How the Venture to Genetically Engineer Our Food Has Subverted Science, Corrupted Government, and Systematically Deceived the Public”, 2015. The truth behind GMO’s is so deeply disturbing, so tyrannical (since replacement of the nature by scientists, who claim to be better, is a total arrogance), so genocidal (most of the artificial genes imbedded into GMO plants stem from pathogenic microorganisms), so unhuman and deceptive (introduced ILLEGALLY upon all nations), that whoever understands a little bit genetics, and some basic molecular biology, can get gray hair, overnight. And the corruption within the science itself, is so immense, that one simply can’t believe certain things anymore, like for example:
    https://www.independentsciencenews.org/news/107-nobel-laureate-attack-on-greenpeace-traced-back-to-biotech-pr-operators/

  • Author’s gravatar

    Due to our geographical isolation, lack of regulation and US patent protection, Hawaii is the global center of GMO creation, as well as the extinction capital of the world.

    Monsanto, Dow-DuPont, Syngenta, Bayer and BASF paid millions in blatant propaganda, in the most disproportionately funded election in history…They still couldn’t buy Maui’s vote for a GMO Moratorium until Independent Longterm Impact Tests are conducted…

    Instead of simply conducting the environmental and health tests, Monsanto along with Dow-DuPont simply sued to overturn laws they couldn’t buy to avoid the tests they know they would fail.
    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/aug/23/hawaii-birth-defects-pesticides-gmo https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9d78cd9dc1a69717857aa75fc8692782a68afb269ddc4e40dd0e349b9c4850ee.png https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e8c7c1aa450ea1ffd5aa3251716c9682841e1b89171dc61a21fd6f84ef01341b.png https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/311ad5d218844bd7ef8892123eaa0cd38d2a758c0523902b9371abc65ce059dd.png https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/2045780746653765bb973f19f4d03011f10618c46bf5ba1fa80c4dd9707982f1.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/dda9a6768c920c74945d5e7b43e3a9bf5224e2aeaeee39a12942fe58fccaf9b3.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d5000f1fceec66b80391db514f32a7cac62422ef731f431f93aa1fc90175a358.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/22348c0ac8b8755e1646d1a10d9bea6b98e3bce59871dd99b2ef35a442745055.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c642d5b25fd926885cd300d77708aef47671abb5a766a05c144406a1a45a6908.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d9ea5a4e003f110738b7fcea85248a6833a38b696587baddc0c2417415ebfcbc.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f38b137a38d6be0c6dc6260d7a0eeca24ff34f61b92c530c8d66511e8bfc00ff.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e9bd11682d4591a16c7e4d27d173028a9b3cc18feba526124b1684057be3382e.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/7f63238fab2d0511bc3b141356e8185cc5900087377cde67a2ad512604328a34.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/988a9e48e343408fead757ded883b508545a3f65c57f0061e352486cecef6403.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/7461518667184d52ecf3a0fe87f27eb56a68c0f8a2d0739222892bc4c0ae9064.jpg

    • Author’s gravatar

      You would think you would get tired of the same old lies. If they didn’t have a case then, the ordinance wouldn’t have been overturned. Your cute little graphs would look just the same if you plotted the growth in organic sales as well.

      • Author’s gravatar

        Boy you really are daft….
        The ordances haven’t been overturned. The are still being litigated in the 9th circuit. The very same. Circuit that has dealt Monsanto and company a couple blows this past week….

        Seriously if you want to play in the sandbox bring the right toys LIAR

        All Monsanto has done is buy time to sell more chemical…like I said ask your handlers for an updated cheat sheet or learn to research for yourself.

        • Author’s gravatar

          Pointing out your lies really isn’t hard.

          A federal judge today ruled that the Maui GMO Initiative passed by Maui voters in November 2014 is invalid because the county does not have the authority over the matter. The order states that the County of Maui GMO ordinance is preempted and exceeds the county’s authority to impose fines.

          The decision is being appealed, but as of today they are invalid.

          As far as blows to Monsanto? Well let’s see they just got there new chemical labeled and are set to corner the market unless more options are approved. Sounds really bad for them doesn’t it. Lol, you don’t have a clue.

          • Author’s gravatar

            Times have gotten tough for farmers, with the U.S. Department of Agriculture predicting that their profits will fall 3% this year, following a 38% slump in 2015 and a 27% drop in 2014. They have responded by keeping a tighter grasp on their wallets.

            On Wednesday, Monsanto raised its full-year earnings projections to $3.72 to $4.48 per share. This is up from previous projections of $3.42 to $4.29 per share, but down from last year’s $4.81 per share.
            iOnly fact proven is your a shill for the industry…
            Asvfar as the numbers go ididny make up investment companies commentary or facts…above us from Forbes…

            #stopthelies

          • Author’s gravatar

            Never said you did make it up, just don’t always tell the whole story like gross profit doesn’t give you real numbers. Doesn’t mean it wasn’t correct. As far as farm profits? We are coming off the best farm income in history so profits only had one way to go, and yes thanks to gmos and farmer greed with have over produced right into an over abundance. So don’t feel to sorry for the farmers as the good managers are still making money and even expanding. With the approval of Monsanto’s new technologies it is of no great surprise that their profits continue. The new products will not only help them, but the farmer as well. Finally, I agree totally that you should try to STOP THE LIES, but I realize that it is a habit with you that you most likely can’t break.

          • Author’s gravatar

            “We”…..you continue to flip flop just like a politician…in article you’re a farmer the next you’re a generic glyphosate sales man …now you’re a farmer again…

            You may want to go read the Forbes article because at the crux of the article is how the farmers ate not making the huge profits promised.

            So which it farmer poison salesman?????

            Or is “we” the mouse in your pocket????

            The new products will not only help them, but the farmer as well. Finally, I agree totally that you should try to STOP THE LIES

            This is a lie and you know it. so the new and improved products are going to be better than the oldvand no good?????

            Fortunately fir manufacturing and production there is not far to go to become bettet

          • Author’s gravatar

            Never once have I said I was a farmer, another of your lies. Just as the one where you think I do this for someone else. You will never be able to face the truth because it doesn’t agree with your backwards way of thinking.

          • Author’s gravatar

            Oh GMO GUY…JUST BECAUSE WE ARE ON A DIFFERENT ARTICLE…SERIOUSLY WE’RE GOING TO GO THROUGH THIS AGAIN?

            you said you can’t weed 40k acres by hand…indicating to everyone in that conversation your a farmer…then citrected yourself and said you “service”…and just above you did the “we” thing indicating your part if the farmers collecting record harvests and revenues….

            You can’t even keep your lies together…time to get out of the sand box. Poison seller

            The only liar you’re going to see is that blank hopeless looking character looking at you in the mirror….

          • Author’s gravatar

            Lol, I said I take sell to farmers, never once claimed to be an English major. I guess when an argument is as weak as yours you must nit pick everything. Farmers do pay me to keep their fields clean and no there isn’t the time or man power for me to have it done by hand. When I say “we” that is simply because I have an interest in farming just as much as the farmer does. If they don’t make money, then I won’t either. If they have a bad year I Then they cut back and don’t spend as much with me as well. These just aren’t customers, they are friends and neighbors. All these things are typical in an agriculture community, which is obviously far beyond your comprehension.

          • Author’s gravatar

            The only weak argument is yours Mr GMO….

            …When I say “we” that is simply because I have an interest in farming just as much as the farmer does…

            You & I both know your interest is selling glyphosate…
            Which is what makes your scenario so pathetic. You’re a poison salesperson. ..a Monsanto lackey…nothing more

            You want constructive debate you andcall the other sick puppet accounts come out from behind the curtain and lets talk…u till then you’re. Nothing more than a Monsanto employee…or “industry propaganda shill”

            You and everyone knows you can not price a thing you day until you come out from behind the curtain….

            Thus has become old hat. Come out from behind the curtain or shut up….

          • Author’s gravatar

            You never cease to amaze me at how little you comprehend and your lack of economic knowledge. You insist I’m in with Monsanto, many times I have stated that I really don’t care much for the company. I respect what they have done for our industry, but that is about it. Haven’t been a seed dealer or sold any of their crop protection products for at least fifteen years. Really hope the epa approves basf’s dicamba so I don’t have to sell Monsanto’s version. Outside of that you think the world revolves around selling glyphosate. You just don’t get it. Sure it is my largest volume herbicide, it is also has my LOWEST profit margin. You can buy the stuff on every street corner. The large retailers like rural king or tractor supply are more than happy to sell it for next to nothing. It is basically a loss leader to get customers to buy the other more profitable products. You really need to do a little research, unless of course you want to keep making a fool of yourself.

          • Author’s gravatar

            PROVE IT…..Until then you are a MPM member…..your commentary has been purchased.

            No you dont get it…you are a coward hiding behind anonimity…

            Come out from behind the curtain or slither back into the must like the other cowards.

            Until then you have absolutely no credibility

            Unlike you and your cronies in this forum I participate in conversation on several social media platforms. Each one has a group of MPM’s that have the same strategy displayed here on Disquis.

            Again you want constructive debate that very well could produce something of value to all participants and even for the “industry” come out from behind the curtain…its pretty easy to say anything you wish when there is no fear of accountability

          • Author’s gravatar

            Lol, yes Monsanto is actually paying me to talk bad about them and blog with a moron like you. You can’t even be that stupid. Obviously you have surrendered since all you have been doing is whining and changing the subject.

  • Author’s gravatar

    Just because you keep repeating erroneous information it does NOT magically become ‘true’! I think Chris is refering to a soil borne organism if so then this is correct and is ther same organism that Organic Growers use. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. I teach plant biology (inc genetics) at one of the UK’s main universities and the third year students are being given text such as this to study and the write a response. Perhaps Chris you might like to joi them?

    • Author’s gravatar

      Please expound on

      text such as this

      Perhaps you can share the exact wording????
      Or are you one of the paid MPM members? ???

      • Author’s gravatar

        Sorry but to which tex are you referring?
        I don’t know what MPM stands for; I am a lecturer at a well know UK university. (School of Biosciences) specialising in plant biochemistry.

        • Author’s gravatar

          Well golly gee I lecture at the horse ranch every day…

          For one so intelligent how do you nit understand the question????

          Perhaps with the rest of the sentence you recollect where I got the segment from…..

          one of the UK’s main universities and the third year students are being given text such as this to study and the write a response. Perhaps Chris you might like to joi them?
          Reply

  • Author’s gravatar

    Another highly misinformed and. unresearched article…@yawanda….you eant to write unbiased about acsubject you should research all the scientific agencies you’ve given credits to….

    Thiscm article is nothing but another pathic attempt by the MPM to continue the ruse to sell a chemical….

    @yawanda….research how much Monsanto PROFITS fronm the chemical glyphosate…you may want to ask for a raise….

    • Author’s gravatar

      Maybe you should do a little research as they don’t make as much as you think from straight glyphosate. Oh wait I already pointed this out to you, but you failed miserably in economics I forgot.

      • Author’s gravatar

        Again GMO Roberts…you research and quit using the cheat sheet that you supervisors supply all you nitwit members if the MPM. ..
        Its outdated and frankly so are you pathetic arguments…..

        What it means
        How much money does Monsanto make from Roundup? In 2015, the company made nearly $4.76 billion in sales and $1.9 billion in gross profits from herbicide products, mostly Roundup. That represents a significant portion of the global glyphosate market, although the company will continue to lose market share to generic competitors as demand grows. Therefore, as far as Monsanto is concerned, the road to the future will be paved with seeds and genomics products, not chemical herbicides.

        However as I stated in my radio segment…thank to liars like you that sell generic glyphosate we can now have proper unfettered tested done since Monsanto has no control over a product that is not theirs…
        And since I know your next move because you are so redundant…
        Here is the link for the Motley Fool investor specs…

        https://www.fool.com/investing/2016/05/26/how-much-money-does-monsanto-make-from-roundup.aspx

        Opppps us scientific illiterate folks ain’t posed no bout stock investingment sits ate we??????

        Once again you have placed yourself in the position to be called a liar….liar
        Now perhaps all you propaganda bozos may want to ask for a raise…
        The ruse is to sell. A chemical nothing more…

        • Author’s gravatar

          You have proven yet again that you know nothing of economics. Gross profit is meaningless. Net profit is the real number to be concerned with. You also underestimate Monsanto’s chemical pro folio if you think it contains nothing more than glyphosate. Proving yet again that you didn’t do any research. As far as you whining about generic glyphosate, generics have been here for many years already and glyphosate has been tested to death, all with passing grades. It is funny to see how desperate you are to stop progress, I have to laugh as your movement keeps failing.