Nick Smith, October 10, 2004

Haunting pictures from Darfur, Sudan remind us of how blessed we are and how desperate life has become in some parts of the world. In those countries, burgeoning population, reduced agricultural productivity, ingrained poverty and political repression has led to human deprivation and death. In Africa today, 200 million people are undernourished - in some areas there is starvation. While food production is growing around the world, in Africa it has been declining.

We in the United States can make a difference, but we must better understand the problem. When 80 percent of the population in a country works to produce needed food, there is little money left to purchase goods, including high-protein food from the U.S. or other countries. As countries move from an agrarian society and develop economically, they become better customers. Such has been the case with China’s dramatic increase in purchases of American wheat, soybeans, and corn.

New hybrid seed varieties and biotechnology is one area where the U.S. has excelled raising production in Africa. Our efforts are complicated by the need to find different answers in different regions. A recent study by the prestigious Inter-academy Council outlined five major crop complexes in Africa. We need drought-resistant grains in some areas and fungus-free sweet potatoes in others. This requires, as the UN Secretary General has recently noted, a green revolution adapted to local diversity. In 2001, I predicted this need in my white paper, "Seeds of Opportunity" which looked at the safety and potential of plant biotechnology around the world.

If innovative technologies are to confront hunger and poverty in the third world, scientists who understand local dynamics must lead the charge. They will need access to the best information possible, which is why I pushed forward H.R. 2051 instituting "Plant Biotech Partnerships for the Developing World." The National Science Foundation is now implementing this bill bringing top American scientists together with researchers from the Third World. We can effectively fight hunger by information exchanges that meet real needs in a local context. In South Africa, Kenya and Uganda we are already seeing fruits of such exchanges in the development of grains, sweet potatoes, and bananas that survive better and produce more in local environments. A side advantage is that European involvement with these countries moves Europe closer to accepting biotech products.

As that happens, it adds markets for U.S. products. As stewards of U.S. taxpayers’ money, we need better to coordinate and focus U.S. assistance programs. The Foreign Assistance Act specifies 33 goals, 75 priority areas and 247 directives for the several different departments of our government involved in helping the developing world. I held a hearing in June of 2003, with Speaker of the House Hastert as lead witness, to highlight the importance of biotechnology in the third world and to encourage coordination among USAID, Department of Agriculture, National Science Foundation and others agencies addressing this issue. We must have better coordination and communication within the US government if we are to be effective in feeding the poor.

We cannot solve all the world’s problems, but we can certainly make a signal contribution to feeding the hungry though practical, intelligent application of new technologies, close collaboration with third world scientists and better coordination within our own government. In the long run, it helps our international relations and our economy.

Congressman Nick Smith, a Republican, represents Michigan's 7th Congressional District, which includes Battle Creek and the counties of Branch, Eaton, Hillsdale, Jackson, Lenawee, Calhoun, and Washtenaw in south-central Michigan.