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. . . .Most of us picture farms as large vistas, even described in the United States as “amber waves of grain.” But, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), an incredible 90% of the world’s 570 million farms are small. Many are less than 2 hectares, which is 0.01 square miles. Together, smallholder farmers are feeding 2 billion people and growing economies in the developing world. When it comes to food and agricultural technologies, smallholder farmers are big.
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Agricultural technology like GMOs can make a difference. Many improved seed varieties can increase farmers’ yields, meaning farmers can harvest more crops from their land. . . . Improving yields is . . . important because it can be difficult for smallholders to acquire more land, so being able to get a bigger harvest from the same piece of land is essential to get out of poverty.
GMOs and other improved seed varieties are also contributing in an increasingly important way: climate resilience. . . .The protection can create stability in places where one weather event can be the difference in a whole year of income for entire communities. . . .
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What do these yield and resilience improvements look like for the rest of the economy? Higher yields mean more available food on local and regional markets, which can also help keep food prices affordable. . . .what the farmers themselves do with their extra income can be just as important. . . many farmers who were incredibly proud of their income because it [them to send] their children to school.
. . . . We need to make technology, including (but not limited to) improved and GMO seed varieties, available in the places that need them most. . . .
Read full, original post: You Probably Didn’t Know Smallholder Farmers Can Benefit From GMOs, Too
