Agricultural Biotechnology Companies and the Crops of the Poor

Abstract

Critics claim that some of the world’s largest agricultural biotechnology companies are prolonging world hunger by making their innovations, for which they charge high technology fees and establish exclusive intellectual property rights, inaccessible to the poor. The significant implication in such assertions is that these firms are not concerned with the public good.

What are ag-biotech companies doing that could improve agriculture for poor farmers around the world? What kinds of projects are they investing in, how are they organized, and with whom are they partnering? What, specifically, do the companies contribute? What are the results? Do these projects produce technology that is both helpful and accessible to the poor?