The benefits deriving from genetically modified organisms should be shared more fairly with developing countries and with resource poor farmers. The FAO has set up an internal committee on ethics in food and agriculture to provide guidance and determine the scope of ethical issues the organization must address.
Ghanian women peel cassava tubers.
Cassava is an essential part of the diet of more than half a billion people. The goals of improved well being, protection of the environment and improved public health should be paramount in making decisions about the use of genetically modified organisms the authors say. As part of its ethical formulation process, the FAO established the Panel of Eminent Experts on Ethics in Food and Agriculture to advise the Organization and to raise public awareness of ethical considerations associated with issues of food security for present and future generations and sustainable management of the earth's limited resources. The panel includes scientists from Ethiopia, China, Cuba, France, Malaysia, Morocco, Norway and the United States, appointed for a four-year period. They met, for the first time, last September and will meet again in 2002.