Cross-posted at agro.biodiver.se
Kofi Annan recently ruled out the use of GMOs in the work of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, to general applause. I happen to think he's wrong, for at least one crop.
I'm talking bananas.
Dear Mr Annan
Congratulations on your appointment as Chair of the Board of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa. In your inaugural lecture in Capetown you said categorically that the Alliance would "work with farmers using traditional seeds known to them". I'm not exactly sure what you mean by "traditional seeds," especially in view of Agra's strong focus on breeding: "we will develop improved varieties for the full range of Africa’s important staple food crops," it says on the Agra web site.
Maybe you just mean "not genetically engineered". That might make sense, because the sentence before the one on "traditional seeds" reads: "We in the Alliance will not incorporate GMOs in our programmes."
That blanket rejection of one kind of technology may win you a few fair-weather friends, though I fear they'll find other things to complain about in AGRA's efforts. Myself, I'm more concerned that you are rejecting out of hand one potential solution to a pressing problem of food security in Africa.
You surely know that in the East African Highlands the banana is the most important staple crop, supporting millions of farmers and nourishing millions more people. Maybe you also know that in Uganda the word for banana is the same as the word for food. And I'm sure you're aware that there are several new diseases that threaten the crop in the region, and that for many of them there's either no solution at all, or no solution the local farmers can afford.
Biotechnology holds out enormous promise for improving bananas, and Uganda has the home-grown expertise to explore this option. Not only is biotechnology a promising option for the banana, it is also one of the few technologies that might offer answers with any kind of speed. That's because the cultivated bananas we eat very seldom -- I want to say never, but I don't want to be accused of being incautious -- very seldom have seeds. So conventional breeding, and traditional seeds, are more or less out of the picture.
But that's also the great thing about bananas. It makes them perfect subjects for genetic engineering. Consider:
Opponents fear genetic engineering because engineered genes will escape and harm wild relatives, creating superweeds and what have you. But cultivated bananas produce no pollen. So, no danger of escape. One up to bananas.
Opponents fear genetic engineering because engineered genes will escape and pollute farmers' traditional varieties. Again, because bananas don't make pollen this is not just unlikely, it is impossible. Two to bananas.
Opponents fear genetic engineering because big bad companies will monopolize the seeds, forcing farmers to buy afresh every season. Agra could afford to ignore plant protection laws, but better yet, bananas are multiplied from little plants that grow off the mother plant. Give a farmer one plant, and he will have it for as long as he likes. She can also supply friends and neighbours. This also addresses the problem of genetic pollution, because farmers simply don't use banana seeds. Three up to bananas; they're really hard to monopolize.
A fourth fear concerns human health. This is harder to be absolute about, but if the engineers restricted themselves to the banana's own genepool they could minimize the risks to the point where it really makes no practical difference.
In other words, bananas are a perfect subject for genetic engineering. They need it. Africans are capable of doing it. And they meet the legitimate concerns of opponents. So why not seize the initiative and commit Agra to using the best tools available?
Of course, you would still have to ensure that the huge diversity of East African Highland bananas remains intact, because the people there have all sorts of varieties that they use for all sorts of purposes, and diversity itself offers a measure of protection against pests and diseases. But that would be easy.
Instead, I fear that political expediency has resulted in you throwing the baby out with the bathwater and the banana out with the ban on GMOs.
There is, however, hope. Maybe, just maybe, you really did mean "seeds" in the strict sense, which could conceivably give Agra license to engineer banana. There's also, to be sure, loads of weaseling at Agra's web site that I am sure offers ample scope for a change of mind on bananas -- and everything else -- at some point in the future.
Besides, keeping high-minded promises has become so passé.
With best wishes
Your pal
Jeremy