strategy
Profiting from food insecurity
Implementation:
The proposed Terminator technology patent, a genetic technique that renders farm-saved seed sterile, will prevent farmers from saving seed from their harvest, forcing them to return to the commercial seed market every year. It is proposed to target the use of Terminator seeds in the South, where over 1.4 billion people - primarily poor farmers - depend on farm-saved seed as their primary seed source. The owners of the Terminator patent have indicated that they will apply for patents in 87 countries worldwide. The patent is pending at the European Patent Office, in Canada, Australia, Japan and South Africa. Claim:
Terminator brings no agronomic benefit to farmers, and no benefits to consumers. The Terminator technology is designed simply to increase seed industry profits by forcing farmers to return to the commercial seed market every year. Counter Claim:
Terminator is a beneficial technology. Scientists are interested in developing the seed sterilizing technique as platform to host a package of "stacked" traits in genetically engineered plants. Type Classification:
F: Exceptional strategies Related UN Sustainable Development Goals:
