Should Crucial Technology be Patentable?
A May 2008 report from a Canadian group called ETC (formerly RAFI) criticizes patents on biotechnology traits that would help meet climate change challenges. It equally criticizes government and non-government organizations which partner with private patent holders.
The report emphasizes the importance of biotechnology traits that would protect plants from climate change stresses but criticizes private sector investment in, and the protection of, research and development necessary to develop such products for farmers. (Traits are properties that can be incorporated into plants to protect against stresses such as drought or salt incursion.)
Monsanto agrees with ETC that biotechnology can be a crucial tool to help agriculture meet the world’s need for food. Unlike ETC, we understand that public-private partnerships, including those that involve patented technology, are important in developing new tools for farmers in developed and developing countries.
Many experts agree that market-based approaches provide the most sustainable method for the development and deployment of products to farmers. Monsanto invests over $2 million dollars a day on research and development (R-and-D) to develop the tools farmers need to improve their livelihoods and meet society’s needs. Climate change will pose new challenges for farmers around the world, and Monsanto and other companies are making major R-and-D investments to help farmers meet those challenges. Patent protection allows companies to see a return on their investment which enables further investment in R-and-D and product development. This profit-investment cycle drives product innovation that is responsive to farmer needs.
Ninety percent of the farmers using biotechnology traits are smallholder farmers in developing countries who access these products through traditional market channels and choose to use them on their farms (source: ISAAA). We are committed to continue product innovation for these farmer customers.
However, we also recognize the importance of product innovation for farmers who are not our customers and who can not access technology through traditional market channels. For that reason, one of the core values at Monsanto is to share knowledge and technology to help farmers in developing countries. We do this through public-private partnerships that combine the strengths and expertise of our respective organizations and enable us to benefit resource-poor farmers in ways that none of us could do alone. Some specific examples of this approach are:
- Sharing Products: Conventional Hybrid Seed in Malawi
In 2005, Malawi experienced serious drought and food shortages. Monsanto donated high-yielding maize (corn) seed and worked with the government of Malawi and development organizations to deliver it to the farmers who needed it the most. The quality seed coupled with fertilizer and good rains provided enough maize to feed one million people for one year.
- Sharing Technology: Biotechnology Traits for Subsistence Crops
For over a decade, Monsanto has provided technology and expertise--as well as funding--to public sector research organizations specializing in the improvement of crops for the developing world. Biotechnology traits and methodologies developed for Monsanto commercial products have been donated to improve cowpea, cassava, rice, sweet potato, papaya and other crops that are not part of our commercial R-and-D program.
- Sharing Products and Technology: Water Efficient Maize for Africa
Most recently, Monsanto joined a precedent-setting public-private partnership led by the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) to bring drought-tolerant maize to smallholder farmers in Africa. The partnership called Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA) was formed in response to a growing call by African farmers, leaders and scientists to address the devastating effects of drought on small-scale farmers. The project, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, will combine the scientific expertise of Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo (CIMMYT), The African Agriculture Technology Foundation (AATF) and Monsanto for the benefit of smallholder farmers in Africa.
Monsanto will provide data and materials from our commercial drought tolerant program royalty-free including proprietary germplasm, advanced breeding tools and drought tolerance traits developed in collaboration with BASF. AATF has already been granted a license to develop, test and eventually distribute the improved varieties to African seed companies without royalty. As part of WEMA, advanced technology will be developed in the form of transgenic and conventionally-bred drought-tolerant maize varieties. The improved varieties will be offered to farmers by multiple African seed companies. Farmers may choose to adopt them, or may elect to continue growing the varieties they currently use.
For more information about the WEMA project, please visit www.aatf-africa.org or go direct to the WEMA project page on the AATF website.
To meet the planet’s future food needs we need to collaborate and have partnerships. We believe that organizations, from all parts of the world and all sectors, working together can bring the most benefit to the world’s farmers--and as a result, everyone else.
Agricultural technology, including biotechnology, is part of the solution to the challenges facing agriculture--including those related to climate change. Technology benefits farmers from all economic sectors. Patents aren’t a barrier to bringing this technology to the poor. Instead, they facilitate technology innovation which benefits all farmers including the most resource-poor.
