Thanks to the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International
Studies here at Johns Hopkins for offering this platform
today, helping us give voice to a topic we believe vital
to the world's rural poor: the role private- public
collaborations play in third world agricultural research
and how that research can be translated into food security
solutions.
Syngenta operates commercially all over the globe, it is, in fact one
of the world's largest agribusiness companies with operations in more
than 50 countries. Supported by the work of twenty thousand employees
2001 sales were just under 6.5 billion dollars.
Its name however is not well known to North Americans, although increasingly
it is in headlines on this side of the Atlantic through our work mapping
the rice genome and our support of the Golden Rice project.
In seeking sustainable success, agricultural companies like ours have
to keep social benefits of their goods and services under constant review.
To be seen as responsible employers, dependable taxpayers and good corporate
citizens committed to general welfare.
But at the fundamental level endeavoring to achieve commercial
success cannot exclude humanitarian and charitable commitment.
Quite the contrary. In my opinion, a company that is
committed to the well being of society invests in the
high reputation and social acceptance of its business
- both of which are important for corporate success.
The political, economic, social and ecological requirements for the
improvement of the security of food supplies are well known. There is
a basic agreement on the distribution of responsibility between state
agencies and other relevant bodies like private businesses or scientific
institutions.
The problem is not a lack of knowledge of the conditions that promote
development and reduce misery.
It is rather a lack of resolve to take targeted action based on this
knowledge.
We know well how complex it is to feed people. Beyond the logistics
of planting, harvesting and distributing food efficiently, all sorts
of other factors have to combine perfectly - at the right moment - to
bring food to the home and village.
The role of the agribusiness industry is but one part in the campaign
against world hunger.
This has to be a multi- faceted campaign; hunger is a multi-faceted
problem.
Our industry must concentrate on that part of the campaign where our
expertise can bring real benefits. That means on technology - chemistry,
plant breeding, environmental science, genomics. Particularly now as
we are face decreasing, or - at best - stagnating public investment
in agriculture research, and the greater economic shift to private research
efforts. In 2001, for example, Syngenta's research and development investment
of 723 million dollars alone was twice the total contribution to CGIAR
that year.
My bias towards the benefits of new technology is frankly admitted.
Biotechnology, for example, offers the hope of improvements across a
very broad agricultural spectrum :
- plants that will cope better with drought and disease,
- or produce healthier food,
- or increase crop yields while using less land,
add further crucial weight to the world's struggle against hunger and
disease.
We are acutely aware, however, that no contributor to that struggle
can work effectively in isolation. We - and every other organization
involved in this effort - want to make a difference. But we can do so
only
A) if we cooperate
B) if we adapt new technology to the requirements of the needy
C) if we make this technology available in a socially responsible way,
and
D) if the whole environment is right
What does that mean in the case of our industry?
Well, for one thing, it means keeping open all reasonable avenues of
hope. This often seems to be an automatic principle. But look at one
recent example in the discussion about "Golden Rice".
In combination with other approaches, "Golden Rice" could
one day make a contribution to helping reduce Vitamin A deficiency.
That in turn would help combat infant blindness. Yet before breeding
work by IRRI has even really begun, critics tell us that the product
is inappropriate and that rice consumers would do better to eat more
vegetables like carrots instead. That seems to me to be rather out-of
-touch advice in areas where farming is based on paddy fields.
But whatever the case: I am convinced that enhancing a crucial staple
diet like rice has to be a high priority. We should all support promising
new approaches, even if they only look like partial solutions. And we
should also continue to engage in frank and open dialogue with all parties
committed to serving the needs of the hungry. Easily said, not so easily
done. But only through that way can we jointly maintain the vital process
of continuous learning.
In that context I introduce to you the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable
Agriculture, the host of today's symposium. Launched
last Fall, it is funded entirely by Syngenta. And as
CGIAR's newest member, the Foundation is dedicated to
addressing sustainable security of food supplies in
the poorest regions of the world:
- through collaborative research,
- through projects and public policy discussion;
importantly, without any interference from the corporation.
The Foundation willingly cooperates with any organization that shares
a conviction of agriculture as sustainable if it makes economical and
intelligent use of resources: whether soil, water, seeds or labor, and
allows people to discuss openly their own local problems, to develop
their own local solutions.
As mentioned earlier the security of food supplies for resource-poor
people can only be improved over the long term through a varied combination
of knowledge, skills and technology. Today we have representatives from
the African, European and North American continents:
- each speaker has a somewhat different perspective in achieving a
common goal,
- each has experience with building development partnerships combining
public and private interests,
- each has ideas on how those partnerships are most effectively framed
and governed,
- each has ideas on how those partnerships might be undermined.
Drs. Songa and Mugo, scientists from public research institutions in
Kenya, will address the Insect Resistant Maize for Africa project, its
governance and its protocol. That project's use of biotechnology as
one of its element has created new, special issues for agricultural
collaborations.
As head of Oxfam America, Raymond Offenhesier brings not only a depth
of experience in building successful public/private partnerships, but
will today bring a critical eye to the effect such partnerships can
produce in both their most and least attractive forms.
Dr. Klaus Leisinger, who with unbounded energy and
vision has been serving as interim Executive Director
of the Syngenta Foundation while simultaneously running
another Foundation and teaching at the University of
Basel, will set the stage for the topic of this symposium
and provide comments from the perspective of private
institutions.
After the conclusions of the prepared remarks, Dr. Andrew Bennett,
former Director of the Rural Livelihoods and Environment of the British
Department for International Development, and beginning in September
the new Executive Director of the Syngenta Foundation, will moderate
an open floor questions and answer session.
I hope you find today's proceedings provocative, thoughtful and most
importantly, helpful in creating new paths to serving the world's rural
poor.
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