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DECLARATION
OF GOIANIA
Adopted by the
participants to the IV Latin American Meeting on Plant Biotechnology
during the closing ceremony on 8th June 2001, Goiania, Brazil.
"Towards
a biotechnology at the service of sustainable development of the
Latin America and the Caribbean forestry and agricultural
sectors"
Introduction
In Latin
America and the Caribbean, in spite of the abundance of natural
resources, continuous investments in agricultural development and a
long run effort on agricultural research, rural poverty and food
insecurity affect more than 55% of the rural population. In these
countries, the productive capacity of agricultural lands will be
saturated in the short term thus increasing the risk of genetic,
water and soil resources degradation, and the depredation of forests
and humid ecosystems of local and universal importance. The
agricultural sector will have to be ready to feed an increasing
population, by exercing a sustained use of resources and utilizing
the knowledge at the service of the society.
Currently, the
modern applications of plant biotechnology offer a wide range of
possibilities for the increase of productivity, diversification and
the increment in production through a sustainable agriculture, which
includes the use of biopesticides, tissue culture techniques and
application of advanced tools from the genomics and the genetic
engineering, as indispensable complements to the conventional genetic
improvement of food crops.
Nonetheless,
the plant biotechnology applications must respond to the increasing
demand in terms of food security, socio-economic development,
international trade, as well as to the conservation, diversification
and sustainable use of plant genetic resources, considering them as
basic inputs to the future regional agriculture. Biotechnology should
present forward concrete results, at accessible costs, for the
resolution of problems and the promotion of productive innovation in
the context of small and medium producers.
Beyond the
progress of plant biotechnology, and its potential for genetic
improvement, there exists dilema that have divided the public opinion
as a recurrent social response in front of the adoption of new
technologies. This dispute implies socio-economic and ethical visions
that have to reach consensus. A sustained support to the application
of biotechnology for production, protection, post-harvest and
transformation of crops implies that the public opinion should
understand concepts linked to genetic engineering and genomics.
Positive
public perception will allow understanding the need of developing
resistant varieties of crops to biotic or abiotic stress and enhanced
nutritional quality. Also, it will ease the development of rules
related to biosecurity, which are necessary to guarantee the release
under proper established risks to the human health and the
environment. Without these conditions, Latin America and the
Caribbean would remain far away from their potential to reach food
security and soci-economic development.
The
agriculture of the Region must be more competitive, internally and
externally. The efforts in order to fight poverty may be complemented
through the competitiveness and the generation of the appropriate
technology, by direct and indirect efforts. Being competitive implies
producing with efficiency and working on specific targets related to
food safety and quality. Conventional technologies are not
sufficient, so it is necessary to open a strategic space for the use
of the new biotechnologies and make that its products be incorporated
within sustainable productive systems. On the other hand, it is
necessary to aliviate poverty, and part of the strategy will be
maximizing the direct and indirect effects of the research
technological investigation and development. An appropriate use of
the biotechnology will result in the empowerment of small and medium
producers, through high quality sexual and agamic seed production
systems, development of bio-fertilizers and bio-pesticides, rural
agroindustries, improved post-harvest technology and diversification
of the use of these products, which leads to autosufficiency and
competitiveness.
The efforts of
the scientists in developping crops that eliminate or reduce the
utilization of chemical agents in the agricultural systems must be
welcomed by the agricultors and consumers within the frame of public
perception of biotechnology protected by proven knowledge and in the
existance of a reliable system of biosecurity for risks' evaluation
and management. The public in general must be duly informed on
biotechnology as a safe tool for the scientific improvement of the
cultures, and that the responsible modification of plants' genes is
nothing new nor dangerours; on the contrary, its use in agriculture
is the key for the fight against environmental degradation, hunger
and poverty. Also, the biotechnological processes and the
agricultural products derived by, must be perceived by the general
public as a need more than an option in the provision of food that is
safe for health and environment, nutritive, of high quality and low cost.
Since 1989,
FAO, through the efforts of the Technical Co-operation Network on
Plant Biotechnology, (REDBIO) is pursuing these objectives through
the interrelation of laboratories from 32 countries, and by
conducting related research activities, human resources training, and
technical assistance to governments in subjects linked to
biotechnology.
Declaration
Scientists,
researchers, participants, members of the REDBIO/FAO and members of
the International REDBIO Fundation, gathered in Goiania, Goias,
Brasil, as part of the activities of the IV Latinamerican Meeting on
Plant Biotechnology, are alerting the civil society, governments,
institutions and decision leaders about:
The lack of
conscience on the seriousness of food insecurity problematic and
about the level of degradation of the natural resources, specially
genetic ones, water and soil, as subjects of the worldwide, regional
and local development agenda for the next 20 years.
The urgency in
protecting the genetic resources and the biodiversity by the use of
appropriate biotechnologic techniques for their characterization,
conservation and sustainable use, ensuring an adecuate and
transparent access.
The need for
strenghtening the agricultural research as a fundamental basis for
the adecuation and generation of biotechnology appropriate to the
socio-economic and environmental conditions in Latin America.
The special
relevance and pre-requisite of training human resources with capacity
of negotiation for the adequation and implementation of
biotechnologic innovations, which will allow generating more
resources and employment.
The need to
establish diffusion programmes at all levels, to improve the public
perception of biotechnology. The members of the IV Latinamerican
Meeting on Plant Biotechnology, REDBIO 2001, underlie promoting the
safe and responsible application of biotechnology - specially in
fragile environments and in countries of lower incomes - and
encourage to maintain and increment the dialogue with all the sectors
and actors to concrete the development of new biotechnologies such as
molecular genomics and the genetic engineering as key elements to the
sustainable use of genetic resources, and encourage as well the
application, whenever feasible, of advanced biotechnologies in the
integrated management of crops within the sustainable production systems.
Considering
the current and potential deep implications of biotechnology, we
declare that the participation of the scientists in the public debate
on the benefits and risks of the application of modern technologies
must be favoured and promoted at all levels of the public and private
institutions, specially of those meember of REDBIO. This must take
into account the need to claim and promote the asignation of
financial resources appropriate for education, training and diffusion
of biotechnology. This conception must be made personal by
politicians, producers, processors, universities and the civil
society, who at the end are those who facilitate the development of
biotechnologies in the countries.
We declare
that the role of the producers, as well as the consumers' one, must
be strenghtened and that greater emphasis should be employed for the
appropriate transfer of technologies, for the sustainable application
of vegetal biotechnology, including information and communication
technologies. Being conscient of the socio-economic benefits of
biotechnology also helps in contrarresting mis-information on biotechnology.
This last
point justifies even more the efforts for strenghtening the use of
biotecnological networks such as REDBIO/FAO and stimulate its use at
national and regional levels.
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