Despite ongoing opposition from some activists to genetically modified organisms, a number of development donors are investigating and funding research of the technology as a means of addressing a range of development challenges. Feeding a growing population, improving nutrition and health, increasing yield, and responding to environmental challenges are among the reason donors give for funding GMO research.
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The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is one of the most prominent donors in this debate. For more than a decade, it has been providing funding for innovative agricultural research, including hundreds of millions of dollars for GMO projects.
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The information available on which donors are working in the GMO space is diverse and scattered — donors are not always promoting work in this area because of a perceived negative response.
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But donor-backed GMO projects are slowly becoming more accessible.
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[The United States Agency for International Development], along with [the United Kingdom Department for International Development], support Uganda’s banana wilt project and have also invested in a public-private partnership with DuPont Pioneer and the Government of Ethiopia in an effort to improve agricultural production using GMO seed. Their leadership team also shows strong interest in this space with the current USAID Chief Scientist Robert Bertram acting as a member of the Golden Rice Humanitarian Board along with a former Rockefeller Foundation food security expert.Read full, original post: Who are the donors taking on GMOs?
