The new phase in agro-industrialization may be a blessing for those farmers that can afford to purchase the new varieties and the necessary equipment. But for those who have little to spend, the benefit of the new technology is not obvious. Small-scale farmers may be quickly outcompeted by farmers in other regions and forced to move to the margins of the economy. It is hardly surprising, therefore, that developing countries can be strongly divided over the issue of biotechnology. In Chile and Colombia, for example, the advocates of biotechnology can be found especially among the fruit and cut-flower exporters and among the producers of national commercial crops.
Chile is a large fruit exporter, and Colombia the second largest cut-flower exporter in the world.
Opposition comes particularly from nature and farm-oriented NGOs and indigenous people s organizations. These organizations act as a last resort for many peasant communities that focus on the improvement of small-scale farming systems. The farmers involved use on-farm saved seeds of native varieties and other locally available natural resources not because of romantic ideals about maintaining biodiversity or economic autarky, but simply because they have no other option. It is difficult to see how such resource-poor farmers could gain from biotechnology. These farmers lack the land, the appropriate soil, capital, markets and infrastructure that are necessary to benefit from advanced varieties.