If it was a question between starvation and genetically modified foods, of course we would tell people to eat GM food, and we have. But this is not the problem people in developing countries are facing. Hunger and poverty go hand in hand. Technological inventions like GM foods are not going to solve the underlying social, economic and political problems that cause hunger.
The argument that GM food is necessary to feed the world is based on an assumption that there isn't enough food to go around. In fact, we have one and a half times the amount of food we need to provide everyone on the planet with a nutritious diet, yet more people go hungry now than 20 years ago.
The problem is that our food is grown to sell on world markets instead of meeting the needs of local communities for a healthy and diverse diet. Small family farmers are being driven off their lands and local people cannot afford to buy what is grown. Too often the result is a downward spiral of environmental destruction, poverty and hunger.
Investment in new technologies currently favours industrial farming rather than addressing the needs of the world's 900 million small farmers. Only a third of the money spent on agricultural research globally is spent on solving the problems of developing countries. That's less than 3% of all agricultural subsidies paid by OECD countries, or rich countries, to maintain their agricultural production.
Yet the problems of the world's small farms could be addressed with simple technologies like improving soil fertility, improving access to land and water, education about agricultural techniques, improving infrastructure, access to markets, and equitable trade rules.
Basic social measures are also critical. A study of data from 63 developing countries between 1970 and 1995 showed that the provision of basic health care and improvements in women's status and education were responsible for nearly 75% of reductions in malnutrition.
In the biggest international assessment of agriculture ever undertaken, over 400 scientists said that GM was low on the list of agricultural techniques that would help Africa feed itself. They confirmed that GM would not address the real barriers to poverty and hunger.
The authors of that report, writing in the journal Science, stated that
"No conclusive evidence was found that GM crops have so far offered solutions to the broader socio-economic dilemmas faced by developing countries."
It is the small poor farmers who are feeding the developing world and they are able to develop innovative crop solutions for their local environment that are producing results.
If the proponents of GM could prove that it was safe for the environment and of significant benefit to humanity, we would obviously adopt a different position. But so far nearly every claimed benefit of GM made by the industry has failed to materialise.
The time has come to recognise the false promise of GM foods and to support farming that meets the needs of local communities and protect the environment.
The solution to ending hunger doesn't mean simply feeding the world, but enabling the world to feed itself.
For more information about innovative farming solutions that show how the world's poor can feed themselves, download our report Recipes against hunger - success stories for the future of agriculture.
