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Article: Reinvigorating genetically modified crops: poor farmers in developing nations will benefit if the United States asserts itself in the international arena to develop and promote biotechnology.
- Article from:
- Issues in Science and Technology
- Article date:
- March 22, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 National Academy of Sciences. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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In August 2002, government officials in the United States were shocked when Zambia, which was on the verge of a major food crisis, began to refuse the import of free U.S. corn as food aid, because some of that corn might be "genetically modified" (GM). This was the same corn that U.S. citizens had been consuming and that the United Nations World Food Programme had been distributing in Africa--including Zambia--since 1996. In short order, three other countries facing possible famine in the region--Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Malawi--also decided to reject U.S. corn as food aid unless the corn was milled to prevent it from being planted. As a reason for their refusals, Zambia ...