by Nearly three dozen Nobel laureates have joined more than 1,000 scientists in urging members of the European Parliament to embrace science-based gene editing technology.
New genomic techniques (NGTs), they write in a petition, “hold enormous promise for sustainable agriculture, improved food security, and innovative medical solutions.”
As farmers concerned about the future of food production in the era of climate change, we join this distinguished group in calling on EU policy makers to open their minds to the amazing potential of this technology.
On the surface, we don’t have much in common: One of us grows corn in Nigeria, while the other runs an organic vineyard and olive grove in Italy. We live in different places, serve different customers, and face different challenges.
But we are united in our view that NGTs offer a great opportunity for farmers in Africa, Europe and everywhere as we try to grow more food in a more sustainable way.
We cannot afford to reject GMO again
The EU regulation proposal on NGTs is a confusing mess, to the extent that it is a welcome step forward in the huge benefits that agriculture and civil society could receive from the introduction of NGT technology in plant breeding. understand and accept. areas that could undermine the effectiveness of the new regulation.
While many European farmers, stakeholders and NGOs are drawn to this important innovation and recognize its huge benefits, others remain skeptical.
The stakes are huge. In a global market, failure to introduce NGTs in Europe will not only hurt European farmers who strive to do more with less and improve their commitment to sustainability but will also affect African farmers who rely on trade with Europe.
In their petition, the scientists put the question bluntly, urging the Europeans to “get in touch with the majority of farmers and real experts, not with reactionary anti-science lobbyists in the Brussels bubble.”
What we absolutely cannot afford is a repeat of Europe’s disastrous rejection of GMOs, a safe technology that has revolutionized agriculture in America and much of Asia, allowing farmers to grow more staple foods, pests and fight disease, and build climate. resilience into their top.
NGTs, however, offer a great science-based opportunity to move past this age-old dispute.
Technology everyone can get involved with
With NGTs, crop scientists can speed up the slow process of traditional breeding that farmers have used since the birth of agriculture in the past. They get results quickly by pushing existing genes in helpful directions, skipping the ancient trial-and-error experiments that can take generations to complete.
NGTs can help farmers cope with climate change by enabling crops to withstand extremes of heat and cold as well as droughts, floods and diseases. They can help us reduce our reliance on herbicides and pesticides. And they can help us improve our results and feed a growing planet.
Everyone can be involved in this technology too, from major commodity producers to farmers like us.
In Italy, NGTs could help farmers overcome the devastating effects of climate change and the spread of uncontrolled pests and fungi that traditional methods of control and contrast can no longer overcome.
And they can make it easier for organic farmers to produce affordable food and compete in the market while staying true to their core principles.
In Africa, where agricultural productivity trails the rest of the world, NGTs can help farmers grow better crops that make more food, feed our neighbors, and push us toward economic self-sufficiency. NGTs will also lead to a new round of great medical breakthroughs.
This will not happen without European political and scientific leadership.
A chance to hit the reset button
In recent months, various bodies within the EU’s political bureaucracy have considered the promise of NGTs, but their discussions have been fraught with uncertainty.
In 2024, they must do their best to come up with a consistent and evidence-based approach that begins to resolve the matter in favor of this excellent technology.
But now is also the time for the national governments to show their support for this regulation.
The proposal is now in the hands of the Council and it will be there to give support to the leaders of Europe or to reject it who will decide if we want science to guide the transition in Europe to more sustainable food systems.
EU policies determine the rules that govern its member states, of course, but their influence reaches far beyond their borders.
When the EU opposed GMOs around the turn of the century, much of the developing world followed suit — and then watched with envy as farmers in the United States, Canada, Argentina, and Brazil embraced biotechnology and they advanced with the greatest fruits of agriculture. ever seen.
NGTs give us an opportunity to hit the reset button — and embrace technology that can make agriculture more climate-aware, more sustainable and more productive.
Onyaole Patience Koku co-founded and manages Replenishment Farms in Nigeria. Diana Lenzi runs her family’s organic winery, Fattoria di Petrorio, in Tuscany, growing grapes for Chianti Classico and olives for extra virgin olive oil.
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