At least one-third of Indonesia’s babies and toddlers below two years old are stunted as a result of being severely malnourished—which means that they are considerably shorter than children of their age. In addition to a lack of health staff and treatments, the poor quality of food further exacerbates the problem.
With rising prices of pesticides and fertilizers, farmers and fishermen invariably end up with poor harvests due to rampant pest attacks. These problems are not particular to Indonesia, but are also prevalent in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and South Asia. As GM crops were aggressively marketed as the solution to end world hunger, farmers and families were promised increased yields and incomes. The deputy minister of Indonesia was even convinced that GM food was “help from God”.
However, since the introduction of GM foods in India just a couple of years ago, doubts abound that this green revolution is really the miracle it appears to be.
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View the original article here: Asian Trends Monitoring » Guest blog: Will GM crops help feed the …
