While many private firms, research institutions and public agencies have been very active in communicating the benefits of agricultural biotechnology over the past 25 years, the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization [FAO] has been marginally engaged at best.
In 2004, the FAO released its State of Agriculture Report, which focused on agricultural biotechnology and what technology could provide to the food insecure.
The organization received a lot of criticism from activist environmental organizations for supporting ag biotech and subsequently pulled back on events and initiatives in this space.
After 20 years of relative inactivity on the ag biotech file, … the FAO announced in early 2025 that it was organizing a conference on agricultural and food biotechnology, including gene editing technologies.
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[The] conference brought together a wide representation of farmers, scientists, academics, government representatives and non-governmental organization representatives, many from the Global South.
Informative sessions were held on topics ranging from ag biotech’s contributions to improving food system sustainability to how biotech innovations will contribute to improvements in crop production, livestock production, forestry and aquaculture.
