Biotechnology and Food Systems in Developing Countries

Presidential Lecture Biotechnology and Food Systems in Developing Countries

Even in a world with adequate food supplies in global markets, which is the situation today, biotechnology offers important opportunities to developing countries in four domains. First, many agronomically hostile or degraded environments require major scientific breakthroughs to become productive agricultural systems. Few of these breakthroughs are likely to be achieved through traditional bree...

Rice Biotechnology for Developing Countries in Asia

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is the staple food for more than three billion people, over half the world’s population. It provides 27% of dietary energy and 20% of dietary protein in the developing world. Rice is cultivated in at least 114, mostly developing, countries and is the primary source of income and employment for more than 100 million households in Asia and Africa (FAO, 2004). Of the 840 mil...

Food Security in Developing Countries

Food security and insecurity are terms used to describe whether or not people have access to sufficient quality and quantity of food. They are affected by factors such as poverty, health, food production, political stability, infrastructure, access to markets, and natural hazards. Improved food security is important for global reduction of hunger and poverty, and for economic development. One a...

Advances in plant biotechnology and its adoption in developing countries.

Developing countries are already benefiting and should continue to benefit significantly from advances in plant biotechnology. Insect-protected cotton containing a natural insecticide protein from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt cotton) is providing millions of farmers with increased yields, reduced insecticide costs and fewer health risks. Many other useful plant biotechnology products that can ben...

THE NEW BIOECONOMY Industrial and Environmental Biotechnology in Developing Countries