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"This is the field that feeds my family," Buthelezi said on a tour of the plot where he ran that first experiment. "This is the field that took my kids into school. This is the field that built my houses. I was able to sit down with my wives" -- he has five of them -- "and say, 'What are we going to do with this money?' "

This from an incredibly interesting article in The Washington Post (11/30/03), which thoroughly details the pros and cons of genetically engineered crops in Africa (and in the Western World, too).

Although it's far too early to know the ramifications of biotech food to the envirnonment and to our health (almost all the studies done so far have been funded by the biotech industry and have not been vetted in the outside scientific community), genetically engineered crops have been feeding humans for over 10 years now with very little documented side affects. Needless to say, this debate needs to be open and vibrant if we are to truly understand the benefits and risks of biotech crops in the long run.

In the short run, at least with regard to feeding the poor in Africa, the results seem to be less important. According to Hans R. Herren, who has worked in Africa for 25 years, and has won the World Food Prize, "I think it is wrong to sort of say that we need genetically modified crops to feed Africa. We need many other things first. You would need better agronomy, you need better fertilizer, you need better crop management. You have to make sure there are markets, there's storage, there are roads, there are trucks. Maybe in 15 or 20 years when we have solved all these other things, biotechnology will have something to contribute."

This article is a must read.

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