Welcome to class of Role of Genetically-Modified (GM) Foods in Emerging Markets by Dr. Satyendra Singh University of Winnipeg Canada ssingh5.

Welcome to class of

Role of Genetically-Modified (GM) Foodsin Emerging Markets

byDr. Satyendra Singh

University of WinnipegCanada

www.uwinnipeg.ca/~ssingh5

What are GM Foods?• Crops created for human/animal consumption

using the molecular biology technique to get desired traits such as:

Role of GM Foods in EMs• Very important for developing countries/EMs

– By 2050pop. 9b food strategy for next 20 yrs– Need more food, as such hunger and starvation– 3m deaths/year in Africa solely relating to hunger– 3 options: aid/food, money/funds, provide GM foods

• GM foods: Rapid, accurate,↑ yield, ↓labor, ↑shelf-life

http://www.reuters.com/news/pictures/slideshow?articleId=USRTXTZ7A#a=1

GM Animals

Advantages of GM Foods…• Pest resistance

– Crop loss due to insets financial loss to farmers– So, farmers use tons of pesticides/fertilizers annually– GM eliminates pesticides and thus ↓ cost of production

• Disease resistance– Viruses, fungi, bacteria plant diseases– GM crops resistance to these diseases

• Cold resistance– Frost can destroy sensitive seedlings– Antifreeze gene from cold fish tobacco and potatoes

Advantages of GM Foods• Drought resistance

– More population ↑ land for housing, ↓ land for farming– Land unsuited for plant cultivation Africa, dessert– GM crops grow in draughts or ↑ salt-content soil

• Nutrition– Single crop (rice) cannot give all the nutrition needed– Lack vitamin A blindness common in EMs– GM food: golden rice has Vitamin A (beta-carotene)– GM food: with enhanced iron is underway, Europe?

• Pharmaceuticals– Edible vaccines in tomatoes and potatoes– Easier to ship, store, administer than traditional injections

Criticism of GM Organism/Foods…

Criticism of GM Foods…• Environmental hazards

– Unintended harm to other organism• Difficult to design toxin kills crop-damaging pests, not other

insects

– Reduced effectiveness of pesticides• Develops resistance DDT

– Gene transfer to non-target species• Cross-breeding• Transfer of herbicide resistance from crops to weeds • The “superweeds” will then have herbicide tolerance as well

• Solution– Create buffer zone

• Enviro pigs they do not produce phosphates!

Criticism of GM Foods…• Human health risks

– Allergenicity– We already have allergies to peanuts and other foods…– Introducing gene may create more allergies– Unknown effects on human health– However, proposal to introduce a gene from Brazil nuts

into Soyabeans was abandoned

• On the whole, with the exception of possible allergenicity, scientists believe that GM foods do not present a risk to human health!

Criticism of GM Foods• Economic concerns

– Lengthy and costly process– May be patented

• Monsanto, Novartis, Dow, DuPont hold patents for GM crops• Make substantial profit by exporting it to EMs

– Farmers from developing countries/EM cannot afford– More gap between rich and poor

• Other invention discouraged/stopped– Suicide gene technology

• Only one growing per season• Next time would produce sterile seeds that do not germinate

Governments and GM Foods…

2009: 25 countries

Governments and GM Foods• Europe: Anti-GM protests (Austria, France, Hungary)

• Japan: GM testing is mandatory. Customers for organic

• USA: FDA GM foods are substantially equivalent to natural food, so not subject to FDA regulations– GRAS Generally Recognized As Safe

• India: No policy yet for GM ↓ poverty

• Brazil: Some states have banned GM crops– ↑Smuggle to compete with grain-exporting countries

• Africa: EU opposes the use of GM in Africa– S. Africa, Sudan, Zimbabwe have GM laws; Kenya Act 2009

• Argentina: Indifferent• New Zealand: NO GM Foods grown here!

GM Food Labeling• No need to label same wrt to nutrition• Europe and Japan Mandatory

– 1% contamination of unmodified products with GM foods– Consumers have the right the know the information– Let consumers decide but no choice– Reduced sales, so processors do not sell GM foods– EU has disguised policy of protectionism

• Canada and US Voluntary– Mandatory for Non-GM foods– Let consumers decide more choices

Traditional International Entry Mode Strategy

Multi-Mode international Entry Strategy for GM Crops