Can GM Crops Feed The World?
The World Health Organization currently cites hunger as the gravest single threat to global public health. Without new technology and innovative farming methods, production will fail to keep up with an ever-increasing world population. Genetically modified (GM) crops hold out the possibility of much greater agricultural productivity in the developing world, with strains that are drought resistant and less environmentally degrading. Sir John Templeton was keenly interested in genetics precisely for its potential to provide such large-scale, transformative breakthroughs. He understood that major advances in genetics might serve to empower individuals and even to provide paths out of poverty.
By asking "Can GM Crops Feed the World?" the Foundation hopes to generate interest in a range of possible lines of inquiry. These include research on the environmental, economic, and social effects of GM crops; on financing mechanisms needed to give small-scale farmers access to GM crops; on the capacity of GM crops to spark wealth creation in the developing world; and on public apprehensions and misinformation about the use of GM crops and how these might be overcome.
The Foundation is still refining this Funding Priority for launch later this year. By June 1, we expect to post several Big Questions for applicants to consider as they prepare to submit Online Funding Inquiries starting on August 1.
