Statement of Gary Davis, D.V.M., Ph.D.
on behalf of

The American Farm Bureau Federation
The American Society of Plant Physiologists, and
The National Corn Growers Association

Mr. Chairman and members of the Subcommittee, my name is Gary Davis.  I am a corn grower and a veterinarian from Delaware, Ohio.  I am testifying, today, on behalf of the American Farm Bureau Federation, the American Society of Plant Physiologists, and the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA).  I serve on the NCGA Customer and Business Development Action Team that is responsible for establishing the research and development priorities for the NCGA.  I appreciate the opportunity to discuss the importance of plant genomics and plant biotechnology research at the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the role these technologies can play in developing sustainable solutions that will help children survive and, generally, alleviate hunger and poverty in the developing world.

For FY 2002, we are requesting $50 million for a unified, coordinated plant genomics and plant biotechnology research initiative at USAID, with the majority, if not all, of the funding awarded on a competitive, peer-reviewed basis.  We believe USAID should have a single, comprehensive initiative, managed through the agriculture program, and focused on bringing genomics and biotechnology to bear on the problems of hunger and poverty in the developing world.  Because of the complexity and cost of the science involved, we believe that USAID will have the greatest impact if there is one comprehensive initiative focused on funding collaborative approaches.<

We cannot overstate the need for agricultural and child survival programs at USAID.  Over two billion people suffer from malnutrition and dietary deficiencies. More than half of all child deaths, worldwide, are due to malnutrition.  Approximately 500 million women suffer from iron deficiency anemia.  At least 400 million people have Vitamin A deficiency and of that number, more than 100 million are young children.  As many as 3 million children die annually as a result of Vitamin A deficiency and 14 million suffer from clinical eye problems.  Some 40,000 people die from malnutrition and hunger related causes every day. Every year, almost 12 million children die before they are five from preventable causes.  Much of this human suffering can be alleviated in a sustainable manner if we were to (1) increase USAID funding for plant genomics and plant biotechnology research to increase yields, enhance micronutrients in food, and create “edible vaccines”, and (2) if we were to target funding for the training of scientists and plant breeders from developing countries in biotechnology.

In the past few years, there have been significant advances in basic plant science, primarily in plant genomics and biotechnology.  These advances will allow us to create new hybrids and varieties that will

• Improve human and animal health;
• Reduce worldwide malnutrition by increasing yields and developing more nutritious crops; and
• Reduce environmental problems for crop and livestock growers.
  

The industrialized world has benefited primarily from these advances so far. Any technology that has the potential to feed the world must be available to the developing countries. If biotechnology is ever going to reach its full potential, the developing world must have complete access to the technology and have the ability to use it to solve local problems, especially the problems of poor farmers and consumers. USAID should play a leading role in bringing this technology to developing countries. Since one of the major goals of USAID has been to improve child survival, a principal component of USAID's efforts to achieve sustainable improvements in child survival should be the use of biotechnology to enhance the micronutrient value of foods and to deliver vaccines and medicines through food.

We believe that the agricultural program of the USAID should work with the international agricultural research centers, universities, and the private sector to develop crops that will improve infant and child health and nutrition and reduce infant and child mortality. Using biotechnology to increase the yields and the nutritional value of key food staples of the poor in developing countries can provide an affordable and effective means of reducing malnutrition and increasing child survival in a sustainable manner.

A critical component of all efforts aimed at incorporating nutrition into child survival activities must include the truly sustainable approach of increasing the micronutrients in food to address specific and general nutrition needs. Many of the efforts to improve child survival have not been self-sustaining and have not reached the poorest and most vulnerable in rural areas. Providing vitamin and mineral supplements, increasing detection and treatment abilities, and providing nutrition education do not solve the problems or establish a means by which the problems can be addressed on a continuing basis without the need for huge infusions of cash on an annual basis. Often, programs providing supplements do not serve the poorest and most vulnerable. We can create a self-sustaining program by using genomics and biotechnology to increase critical micronutrients (e.g., Vitamin A, iron) in food crops and alleviate dietary deficiencies. The crops can be grown annually to ensure continued access to the essential vitamins and minerals.

Increasing Vitamin A intake is one of the most cost-effective interventions for child survival. Providing capsules has been the emphasis of the USAID programs to reduce Vitamin A deficiency. While laudable, this approach will require annual expenditures in perpetuity. A better approach would be to attack the problem at its root by modifying the diet with today's technology, plant biotechnology, to develop food that has enhanced levels of Vitamin A. Recently, rice varieties, called "golden rice", have been developed that contain enhanced levels of Vitamin A and iron. These varieties demonstrate the potential to supply levels of beta-carotene that can contribute significantly to meeting Vitamin A requirements. We will need more research to get golden rice to farmers. We can use this same process to create high beta-carotene maize, cassava, wheat, banana, canola, mustard oil, peanuts or any other crop that preferred by the poor in developing countries. Once the research is completed and the varieties are in the fields, a self-sustaining program will be in place and scarce resources can be devoted to other high priority needs. Moreover, these nutrition-enhanced foods can reach the poorest and most vulnerable people in rural areas who are often not served by programs providing supplements. Golden rice and golden maize can provide self-sustaining methods for addressing Vitamin A and iron deficiencies.

In the area of child immunization, USAID focuses on traditional delivery mechanisms that, in turn, require refrigeration, sterile atmospheres and equipment, syringes, vaccine vial monitors that indicate whether the vaccine has been overexposed to heat, and safe injection practices. In many areas, these requirements cannot be met in a satisfactory manner or they are prohibitively costly. In addition, biohazards are created and dealing with bio-hazardous waste becomes a problem. Finally, these methods of delivering vaccines are not self-sustaining as costs associated with handling will continue to rise.

We have opportunities with plant biotechnology to deliver "edible vaccines" without the need for any of these complicated handling procedures, without the need for refrigeration or sterile equipment, and we can deliver them in a sustainable manner through the regeneration of plants. For example, the use of plant biotechnology has made it possible for significant advances to be made in delivering the Hepatitis B vaccine in bananas and corn and the cholera vaccine in potatoes. Research is underway in a wide range of areas, including edible vaccines for diarrheal disease, bacterial tooth decay, lung infections, and sexually transmitted diseases. In addition, there is the potential for the development of vaccines for other serious diseases such as malaria. Robust research in all of these areas will allow us to have self-sustaining programs for vaccine delivery. USAID immunization efforts should include using plant biotechnology for the delivery of the vaccines.

Another focus for USAID should be the development of crops that can withstand environmental stress and the key pests and diseases that cause enormous losses to farmers around the world. New research tools from genomics and molecular biology are allowing plant breeders to improve challenging and complex traits far more effectively than ever before. We can give farmers the potential to grow enough food to feed the population of developing countries by using genomics and plant biotechnology to address some of the most important, intractable problems, such as drought, heat tolerance, and adaptation to salinity or acidity. In doing this, we can help our own farmers as well who often face the same problems. Similarly, many crop pests and diseases in Asia, Africa and Latin America are already in the United States or will be soon. When scientists solve these problems in poor countries, they not only help people feed themselves and move up from poverty, they help ensure safe harvests across our own country. The green revolution crop strains developed by the international agricultural research centers have helped to benefit U.S. farmers and consumers to the extent of billions of dollars in added productivity.

We recognize that only the scientists and plant breeders working in the developing world understand the specific needs of the poor and local farmers. It is critical that they have the skills in biotechnology to develop varieties and hybrids that meet the needs of the local populations. With sufficient training, in their own country and, perhaps, training in the U.S., they will be able to help meet the needs of the local farmers and the poor in their own countries. One of the best ways to provide training is to support collaborative efforts between scientists here and abroad, particularly scientists from developing nations. In addition, training in biotechnology and science-based regulatory systems should be provided to regulatory officials from developing countries. This would facilitate the development and production of these crops by advancing important new technologies in a safe, sound manner and helping officials in the developing countries address any biosafety issues that may arise.

With the significant advancements made in plant genomics and biotechnology, we believe that the USAID should focus on achieving sustainable improvements in agriculture and child survival by using biotechnology to develop sustainable solutions to malnutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, and the delivery of vaccines.

We appreciate greatly the support of the Subcommittee in providing $30 million for plant biotechnology research at USAID for FY 2001. However, we are disappointed in the manner in which USAID has implemented this funding. First, it appears that the USAID is not going to provide the full $30 million for the program. Second, we are concerned that the USAID is using the funding for "business as usual" efforts by taking a small amount of new funds and "spreading it around" to its traditional partners. The funding is not focused on cutting-edge, biotechnology research or any of the exciting applications of genomics and biotechnology that, in some cases, will require large, multidisciplinary, focused grants. Third, it appears that none of the funding will be used for a competitive, peer-reviewed program to ensure that the best science goes forward. To ensure that this does not happen next year, we, strongly, encourage Congress to be more specific about its intentions for this program. We, strongly, encourage Congress to provide $50 million for competitive funding and to focus the funding on the following priority areas:

§ plant genomics and plant biotechnology research grants to international agricultural research centers, universities, and other public and private entities to develop crops with increased content of critical micronutrients, such as golden rice and golden maize, aimed at alleviating micronutrient deficiencies and to use biotechnology to enhance yields of varieties adapted;
§ joint, collaborative research grants linking international agricultural research centers with U.S. research partners (e.g., universities, private sector researchers, USDA/ARS) to carry out biotechnology and genomics research for development of stress tolerant and insect and disease resistant crop varieties for developing countries, and with potential application to U.S. agriculture as well;
§ grants to develop "edible vaccines" where the vaccines are genetically incorporated into food plants; and
§ related, targeted funding for training scientists, plant breeders, and regulatory officials from developing countries in genomics, biotechnology, and science-based regulatory systems to ensure that the full benefits will be available in developing countries.

Biotechnology in medicine has given us the tools to treat heart disease, multiple sclerosis, hemophilia, and acquired immune deficiency syndrome. We believe that foods enhanced with biotechnology will enable the poor in developing countries to receive the proper level of essential vitamins and minerals and much needed vaccines. By helping farmers grow bigger, more nutritious crops, not only do we combat famine, malnutrition, blindness, and childhood disease and death, we help developing countries take important steps toward becoming important and reliable trading partners for the U.S. The USAID should enhance, significantly, its role in ensuring that the developing countries have access to and reap the full benefit of plant biotechnology.

Thank you for this opportunity to present our views. I would be happy to answer any questions.

ST. LOUIS OFFICE

WASHINGTON D.C. OFFICE