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Introduction and Objectives

Current and potential future benefits of biotechnology are numerous. They include new and more effective pharmaceuticals, more accurate methods of diagnosing disease, improved waste management techniques, new methods of production and improved food quality and safety.

For people in Asia – whether they are wheat farmers on the Ganges Plain of India, rice farmers on the terraces of Bali, cotton growers in China or inhabitants of fast-paced cities like Singapore or Tokyo – the implications of biotechnology will be significant. In the area of food and agriculture, the effects of biotechnology are likely to have many facets including better crop yields, reduced use of chemicals for plant disease and pest control, less environmental degradation, as well as the development of innovative food products, such as foods with improved nutritional value or better food quality and safety.

Biotechnology is not seen as a panacea for all the region’s food production problems. The supply of food is a complex process and biotechnology offers one part of a multi-faceted strategy to meet the growing demands for more and better quality foods.

The Asian Food Information Centre (AFIC) and the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) have joined together to develop Food Biotechnology: A Communications Guide to Enhance Understanding Biotechnology. The Guide is intended to provide leaders in the scientific, medical, food and agricultural communities and educators involved in these areas, with a helpful resource kit. This resource is intended to provide context and to improve understanding of the practice and issues associated with modern biotechnology. The kit aims to provide the most scientifically sound and up-to-date information about biotechnology products and processes.

The resource provides an overview of regional production and regulations regarding crop biotechnology and includes findings from research conducted in Asian countries on consumer understanding and awareness of biotechnology. A presentation outlining the basic science of biotechnology is included in PowerPoint format with an accompanying commentary. This could be used as a draft for presentations on Food Biotechnology or as a starting point for presentations in other languages.

Future resources are planned which will provide information relevant to other areas of modern agricultural biotechnology.

Given the diversity of communities in Asia with respect to race, religion, and social and economic status, it is especially important that any communication be based on an appreciation and respect for one’s audience. It is also important to establish a baseline for the level of the understanding of food biotechnology present in your audience.