The first is regulation. It is hard enough for rich countries to work out how to assess the risk and control the production of genetically enhanced crops, let alone poor ones that entirely lack the necessary regulatory framework. To avoid the unintended ecological fallout of the Green Revolution, they need to proceed with caution. The second obstacle is intellectual-property rights. The fruits of the Green Revolution emerged almost entirely from public-sector laboratories and national breeding programmes, allowing easy access for users.
New biotechnologies are different.
Although much of the basic science has come from universities, the commercial development has been done by private companies that have shielded their multi-million dollar investment with patents. Research institutions that want to use some of these proprietary genes or technologies get caught in a web of patents and cross-licensing arrangements between firms and universities, paying costly royalties or being denied access altogether. Such public institutions are already strapped for cash. Investment in public-sector agricultural research and development has stalled in recent years. Foreign aid for agriculture has fallen by half since 1986.