GMO

On Friday, Sam Dryden–a man who has spent much of his career on the development of agriculture technology, including genetically-modified seeds–was named the new head of agricultural development for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He replaces Dr. Rajiv Shah, who on Thursday was sworn in as administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development.

In his 25 years of experience as an investor and entrepreneur, Dryden has served on a number of international boards and commissions devoted to agricultural and economic development, as well as food security. He co-founded Agrigenetics Corp.–now part of Dow AgroSciences–and was the CEO and chair of Emergent Genetics, which developed and marketed genetically-modified seeds. Emergent was sold to Monsanto in 2005.

Dryden’s work with the foundation will focus on using the agriculture grants to get better seeds to farmers, use irrigation and fertilizer to boost productivity, help farmers sell their excess product, and lobby for better government policies. Sylvia Matthews-Burwell, president of the foundation’s Global Development Program, told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

“Sam brings a wealth of experience to the foundation – not only in agriculture, research and business, but also in a wide variety of projects related to agriculture development and public-private partnerships.”

But not everyone is pleased with the foundation’s choice. Bill Freese, science policy analyst for the Center for Food Safety, sees it as a red flag. Concerned with the foundations naivete regarding the use of genetically-modified crops and biotechnology, Freese said that this isn’t the first time he’s had an issue with their actions. The foundation has also refused to take a stand on seed patenting laws, which prevent farmers from saving their seed.

[Via: Seattle Post-Intelligencer]

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