P R O C E S S I N G MY SAY Smallholder farmers in the world’s 34 SEPTEMBER 2017 FOOD PROCESSING SOLUTIONS Your meat and food processing equipment specialists Hand tools Food processing equipment Knives Sharpening equipment Clips and bungs Data loggers Hygiene and safety equipment argus.co.nz / 0800 274 871 FT373 hungriest and most populous region need greater access to biotechnologies to improve food and nutrition security and fight poverty. While the safe agricultural uses of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) continue to monopolise the debate, the FAO is urging countries in Asia and the Pacific to adopt a more holistic approach and consider the wider range of low- to high-tech solutions present in the biotechnology toolbox. Closer attention should be paid to many of the other forms of agricultural biotechnologies in use today. These include the use of biofertilisers or biopesticides in crops and trees, artificial insemination and other reproductive technologies in livestock, DNA-based tools to diagnose diseases of farmed fish and many more. Gaining greater access to, and utilising, these various forms of agricultural biotechnologies can contribute to greater food security for the region and increased profits for smallholders who produce the vast majority of the food we eat each day. If this region is to meet the ambitious sustainable development goal targets and eliminate hunger, malnutrition and poverty by 2030, countries need to look at every safe, evidence-based form of food production and ensure the benefits of science can reach the smallholders. There is significant divergence among countries and within the sub-regions of Asia-Pacific in the levels of adoption of relevant agricultural biotechnologies, as well as in their capacities to develop them and in the degree of support available in each country which enables them to be developed and used. The biotechnology divide is widening in the region and what we observe today is a subset of emerging countries moving forward very quickly while many others are not accessing or investing in recent advances in science and technology, including agricultural biotechnologies. Engaging stakeholders in a science based dialogue and exchange of ideas based on concrete and practical case studies where biotechnologies have been applied to benefit smallholder farmers, food producers and consumers, especially in developing countries, is critical. In addition, FAO is encouraging member countries in the region and beyond to establish partnerships through cooperation, with the aim to increase effective collaboration and resourcing in this field. The FAO will be holding regional meetings in Addis Ababa in November, and in Latin America and North Africa in 2018. SPREAD THE KNOWLEDGE AROUND, ASKS THE UN LOADS OF EXTRA MULTIMEDIA CONTENT FREE SUBSCRIBE HERE AT WWW.FOODTECHNOLOGY.CO.NZ/SUBS SIGN UP FOR YOUR DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTION Improved access to agricultural biotechnologies is needed to help defeat hunger, malnutrition and poverty in the Asia-Pacific region, UN assistant director-general and Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) regional representative Kundhavi Kadiresan says.
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