C h a p t e r 8 Lessons and Recommendations

Biotechnology, like a host of other complex and multidimensional issues inthe development field, has been characterized by marked conflict betweendifferent ethical and ideological perspectives. What has contributed to mak-ing the differences so entrenched are the profound uncertainties regarding who will benefit and who may lose from the technology, what its unforeseen consequences may be, how long it will take for the impacts to be discovered, whether the effects can be known before irreparable harm is done, and who will make the decisions. With these questions remaining by and large unanswered, different deep-seated beliefs about technology, nature, the global order, and the meaning of development on the part of the various stakeholders have come into play, increasing the intensity of the dispute and making it seem irreconcilable at times. In today’s globalizing economy, a country, particularly a developing one, will not be able to survive unless it adopts or accommodates to genetic engineering in agriculture. If it is to compete internationally, it will have to adopt biotechnology for production. For many countries, not investing in biotechnology may also mean greater environmental degradation and food insecurity. It can no longer even be considered an option, because developing-country institutions have been conduct