Golden Rice – panacea or Trojan Horse?
The longstanding controversy over a genetically modified rice variety, the so-called “Golden Rice” is currently coming to a head in the Philippines. Proponents of the rice variety, that has been modified to produce beta-carotene, a source of Vitamin A, claim that it can help to prevent blindness and even death from infectious diseases in children suffering from malnutrition. Critics of Golden Rice, including ASTM’s partner organisation, MASIPAG, however maintain that there is no need of Golden Rice as a wide variety of local food plants abundantly available in the Philippines contain beta carotene. MASIPAG fears that the real reason behind the introduction of Golden Rice is that it would open the door to other GMO plant varieties.
ASTM’s partner organisation, MASIPAG, is a network of peasant farmers and scientists established in 1986 committed to helping small farmers in the Philippines to take back the control over their seeds after years of dependence on the products of agrochemical companies promoted during the Green Revolution. A central area of their work consists of recovering traditional seed varieties and developing new rice lines that are well adapted to local conditions and capable of helping farmers cope with the effects of climate change.
During the lunch-débat Chito Medina, national coordinator of MASIPAG will explain more about the Golden Rice controversy in the Philippines, MASIPAG’s reasons for rejecting it and present alternatives.
Event language: English
Organised by : Action Solidarité Tiers Monde (ASTM) and Méng Landwirtschaft
