Miguel A. Altieri

About the author: Miguel A. Altieri is chair of the NGO Committee of the Washington, D.C. based Consultative Group of International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and an associate professor of agroecology at the University of California, Berkeley. His books include Agroecology: The Science of Sustainable Agriculture.

Supporters of biotechnology say that genetically modified crops will help to feed the world and ease poverty, but this is not so. Even if such crops increase productivity, they will not cure hunger and poverty, which are caused by problems other than an insufficient world food supply. Furthermore, genetically modified crops threaten the environment, for example, by reducing biodiversity. Because there are better ways to improve agriculture in developing countries than to urge genetically modified crops on them, encouraging...