How can modern profit-driven agricultural biotechnology meet the basic needs of the poor?
As previously noted, the amelioration of malnutrition in the short term appears to be one major promise of biotechnology. One example is the development of more nutritionally complete crops that have the potential to reduce the prevalence of specific food deficiencies in areas dependent upon diets with little variety. Though publicly funded research is important, efforts that benefit large numbers of low-income people need not be unprofitable. Poor nutrition is one factor in low productivity, and genetically engineered crops might thus provide a benefit more general than the relief of malnutrition. Similarly, if the use of more robust and more nutritionally complete crops becomes widespread, small village farmers could become productive enough to improve their financial condition. These are only two examples of how biotechnology, which is no more profit driven than current agricultural practice, might meet the “basic needs” of the poor. The big question is whether the cost can be kept
