Research and Extension Branch, Food and Agriculture Organization of the U.N., Via delle Terme di Caracalla, Rome, Italy.
J Biotechnol. 2011 Dec 20;156(4):356-63. doi: 10.1016/j.jbiotec.2011.06.013. Epub 2011 Jun 23.
Latest FAO figures indicate that an estimated 925 million people are undernourished in 2010, representing almost 16% of the population in developing countries. Looking to the future, there are also major challenges ahead from the rapidly changing socio-economic environment (increasing world population and urbanisation, and dietary changes) and climate change. Promoting agriculture in developing countries is the key to achieving food security, and it is essential to act in four ways: to increase investment in agriculture, broaden access to food, improve governance of global trade, and increase productivity while conserving natural resources. To enable the fourth action, the suite of technological options for farmers should be as broad as possible, including agricultural biotechnologies. Agricultural biotechnologies represent a broad range of technologies used in food and agriculture for the genetic improvement of plant varieties and animal populations, characterisation and conservation of genetic resources, diagnosis of plant or animal diseases and other purposes. Discussions about agricultural biotechnology have been dominated by the continuing controversy surrounding genetic modification and its resulting products, genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The polarised debate has led to non-GMO biotechnologies being overshadowed, often hindering their development and application. Extensive documentation from the FAO international technical conference on Agricultural Biotechnologies in Developing Countries (ABDC-10), that took place in Guadalajara, Mexico, on 1-4 March 2010, gave a very good overview of the many ways that different agricultural biotechnologies are being used to increase productivity and conserve natural resources in the crop, livestock, fishery, forestry and agro-industry sectors in developing countries. The conference brought together about 300 policy-makers, scientists and representatives of intergovernmental and international non-governmental organisations, including delegations from 42 FAO Member States. At the end of ABDC-10, the Member States reached a number of key conclusions, agreeing, inter alia, that FAO and other relevant international organisations and donors should significantly increase their efforts to support the strengthening of national capacities in the development and appropriate use of pro-poor agricultural biotechnologies.
最新的粮农组织数据显示，2010 年约有 9.25 亿人营养不良，占发展中国家人口的近 16%。展望未来，不断变化的社会经济环境（世界人口和城市化的增长以及饮食的变化）和气候变化也带来了重大挑战。促进发展中国家的农业是实现粮食安全的关键，需要从四个方面采取行动：增加对农业的投资，扩大粮食供应，改善全球贸易治理，在保护自然资源的同时提高生产力。为了实现第四个行动，农民的技术选择方案应该尽可能广泛，包括农业生物技术。农业生物技术是指用于改良植物品种和动物种群的遗传特性、鉴定和保护遗传资源、诊断动植物疾病等方面的广泛的食品和农业技术。关于农业生物技术的讨论一直以围绕基因改造及其产品——转基因生物（GMOs）的持续争议为主。两极分化的辩论导致非转基因生物技术黯然失色，往往阻碍了它们的发展和应用。粮农组织于 2010 年 3 月 1 日至 4 日在墨西哥瓜达拉哈拉举行的发展中国家农业生物技术国际技术会议（ABDC-10）提供了大量文件，非常全面地概述了不同的农业生物技术如何被用于提高发展中国家作物、牲畜、渔业、林业和农业综合企业部门的生产力和保护自然资源。会议汇集了约 300 名政策制定者、科学家和政府间及国际非政府组织的代表，其中包括来自 42 个粮农组织成员国的代表团。在 ABDC-10 会议结束时，成员国达成了若干关键结论，除其他外，同意粮农组织和其他相关国际组织和捐助者应大力加强努力，支持发展中国家加强开发和适当利用有利于穷人的农业生物技术的能力。
