Today is World Food Day. On this day we should pause to reflect on how we, in our countries of privilege can help feed the developing world. Bearing witness to hunger, malnutrition, disease and death while working in Bangladesh on assignment for the Canadian International Development Agency has deepened my conviction that biotechnology is a vital tool to help feed the developing world.
Malnutrition is endemic in developing countries.
Women, especially during pregnancy, are the most vulnerable to dietary deficiencies. And at least a million children a year die because they are weakened by vitamin A deficiency. An additional 350,000 become blind. In many developing countries, such as Bangladesh, rice is more than a staple. It is often the major source of sustenance in people s diet providing more than 80 per cent of the energy.