The application of genetic engineering in agricultural food production has been argued to be a promising step towards addressing the problem of food insecurity in the backdrop of increased population growth, climate change, and pesticide-resistant crop diseases. According to Sommerville, (as cited in Tiberghien, 2006, p. 6) notes that “GM plants in the 1990s mostly incorporated new features that increased the efficacy and yield of production: herbicide resistance, insect resistance, sterility, virus resistance, and improved ripening (tomatoes).” Subsequent genetically engineered foods were argued to have high nutritional and medicinal value. However, despite the potential that genetic engineering portend in terms of food security, there has been sustained opposition to genetically modified organisms (GMOs) worldwide.
Anti-GMO campaigns have been premised on human health and environmental concerns. Global not for profit non-governmental organizations such as Friends of the Earth International, Greenpeace International and Center for Food Safety have been in the forefront in opposing the planting and selling of GMOs (Paarlberg, 2014). Therefore, Anti-GMO campaigns will play a crucial role on how the biotechnology industry will proceed since genetic engineering is an expensive affair in terms of time, financial resources, and manpower (Herring & Paarlberg, 2016). Halting their progress by bad publicity is likely to affect their financial viability negatively.
The effects of Anti-GMO campaigns have and will affect other sectors in society. For instance, government will have to carefully consider the regulatory frameworks to implement in regard to GMOs. Furthermore, the retail market will have to be careful when stocking GM products lest they upset Anti-GMO consumers, and societal concerns about food security.
Anti-GMO campaigns have largely succeeded in many countries with the halting of commercial planting of genetically modified crops, enactment of Anti-GMO laws, and implementation of stringent laws governing GMOs. In this regard, Anti-GMO activists will play an important role in the future of the biotechnology industry. Therefore, there is need for concerted efforts to address the opposing views so that governments and biotechnology companies can come up with a way forward.
