Engineering Our Environment
In this blog, we will be examining the effects of climate change on agriculture and the role of GMOs in a societal, political, and scientific context as part of our Food Science and Politics class at Stanford University. We will be corresponding with students at the American University at Cairo through this Cross-Cultural Blog. 
Climate change is an issue of global concern in our generation. The specific climate changes that are affecting agricultural productivity are an increase in temperature, change in rainfall, increased atmospheric CO2, changes in pollution levels, and an increase in extreme climactic events. For Americans, this issue is a top priority of national concern and thus we have come up with ways to combat this problem. Some sources are saying that agriculture in the US is less vulnerable to climate change than developing nations because the US, like other industrialized countries, relies on a wide range of resources, whereas developing nations mainly rely on agricultural resources. For example, the American agricultural GDP is .9%, in France 2.7%, in China 11.3%; in Egypt, the agricultural GDP is 13.1% (CIA-The World Factbook). In the US where the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) is legal, modified crops are being used to combat the effects of climate change on agricultural productivity. There are genetically modified crops that have been engineered to resist drought, flooding, extreme temperatures, and more.
In retrospect of the methods the US has employed to counter the detrimental effects of climate change, we would like to know how much of a priority fighting climate change is in Egypt? What domestic policies are in place to fight climate change? Is climate change affecting agricultural productivity? And finally, what are your views on the use of GMOs, and are there any political groups in Egypt pushing for the use of GMOs to fight climate change?
"CIA - The World Factbook." Welcome to the CIA Web Site — Central Intelligence Agency. Web. 19 Oct. 2009.
Monsanto. Drought-Tolerant Corn. 2009. Photograph. Monsanto 2009 Pipeline. Monsanto. Web. 19 Oct. 2009.
Comments
Great questions. Once we hear from some students at AUC in response to your questions, I hope you will come back and offer some points of comparison with the United States?
Posted by: Julia Bleakney | October 20, 2009 07:28 PM
Egypt is among the first Arab countries to join the cooperative global efforts to confront climate change threats.Egypt is also an active participant in both African and regional conferences and workshops related to climate change. The establishment of the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA) in 1982 followed by the creation of a Ministry of State for the Environmental Affairs in 1997 signified Egypt’s commitment towards environmental protection. However, Egypt has banned all imports and exports of GMOs. It is officially the first Middle East GM-free nation. The government along with the ministry of health simply refuse the entrance of such an untested technology into our food chain which conforms with the consumers demand of GM-free food. The economic and social impact of introducing GMOs to a developing nation such as Egypt remains under heated dispute here.
Posted by: Aya Aboul Fotouh | November 21, 2009 05:45 AM