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GMO crops aren't invented for developing world conditions. They're invented for the developed world that can afford them. They're an extension of Green Revolution agriculture ideas. The core of Green Revolution is a focus on cash crops rather than subsistence farming - high intensity monocropping to create raw feedstock for junk food factories in the global market, rather than immediately edible food for local consumption. You don't eat soybeans. You eat things made in a factory out of soybeans.

Green Revolution is often the cause of rather than cure for hunger in the developing world. Here's an example. Ethiopia is one of the most agriculturally bountiful places on Earth. For thousands of years, it has been farmed effectively, and nomadic cattle herding was a key part of that. In the 1970s, it joined the Green Revolution. River valley land was "bought" and fenced in for industrial cattle farming, raising low quality beef for the European pet food market. This cut off access to the rivers during dry season for the nomadic herders, backed up in force by a now internationally funded army. The nomads were forced to stay in the hills, overgrazing during the dry season. A decade or so later, and the hill country desertified and the rivers silted up, ruining both the nomadic and Green Revolution cattle farming. Suddenly, a peaceful and well-fed land became the scene of a world-shaking famine and civil war.

The picture is much, much bigger than just GMO.



> GMO crops aren't invented for developing world conditions

There are, in fact, ag biotech firms that have expended resources to develop GMOs for developing world conditions and problems. Of course, there's more money in solving first world problems, attracting more investment, but that's true of pretty much every industry, not something special about GMOs.


Could you give some links? I'd love to read about this but can't find anything on Google that talks about anything earlier than 2000.


I got this back in the 1990s from reading actual books. Don't know about links offhand... I was actually thinking about this myself.


Search Google books for "green revolution ethiopia", lots of hits.


The hits are mostly modern, unfortunately.


If you find some links, post to the front page! Do you remember what the books were?


> GMO crops aren't invented for developing world conditions. They're invented for the developed world that can afford them.

This is not true for all GMO crops. Golden Rice is a prime example of a GMO crop developed specifically to fight malnutrition in the developing world.

But your argument is probably true for the stuff peddled by Monsanto and their competitors.




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