March 18, 2010

Lunch Briefing: 12:30 - 2:30pm

1100 15th Street, NW Suite 600

Washington DC 20005

Panelists: Robert Tripp, Ph.D. - Lead Researcher & Editor; Richard Oswald - President, Missouri Farmers Union; Larry Beach, Ph.D. - Senior Biotechnology Advisor, USAID; Anuradha Mittal - Executive Director, The Oakland Institute

Moderated by:

Kimberly Pfeifer, Ph.D. - Head of Research, Oxfam America

This book addresses the continuing controversy over the potential impact of genetically modified (GM) crops in developing countries. Supporters of the technology claim it offers one of the best hopes for increasing agricultural production and reducing rural poverty, while opponents see it as an untested intervention that will bring corporate control of peasant farming.

The book, edited by Robert Tripp, examines the issues by reviewing the experience of GM, insect-resistant cotton, in four countries- India, South Africa, China and Colombia. This research gives examples in which GM cotton has proven useful and has been taken up by smallholder farmers, but also challenges those who claim that biotechnology can take the lead in agricultural development by examining the precarious institutional basis on which these hopes rest in most countries. We hope you will join us for this interesting discussion.

Please RSVP to [email protected] by March 16, 2010.