First, it was just hearsay. But, later on, it was confirmed. William Henry Gates—more popularly known around the world as Bill Gates, the man who cofounded Microsoft—came to the Philippines recently. And not too many Filipinos knew of his coming.
The world’s richest man (net worth of $79.2 billion) first arrived in Puerto Princesa City in Palawan on a private jet with US registry number N887WM. He and his companions stayed for a three-day holiday in the island.
From there, Gates—with the senior officials of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF)—flew to Manila via an Islander plane. Interaksyon, the online news portal of TV5, quoting sources in Laguna, reported that “Gates flew by chopper Wednesday from Manila to Laguna, on what was billed as a ‘top secret’ visit to one of the laboratories at IRRI.”
IRRI refers to International Rice Research Institute, which is based at Los Baños, Laguna. It is the world’s leading research institute on the staple crop that supports over 60 percent of mankind, including Filipinos. BMGF is reportedly the institute’s biggest donor.
“We are thankful that the BMGF has come for updates on the food and nutrition security initiatives that they support,” IRRI Director-General Robert Zeigler said in a press statement.
Interaksyon surmised that since the BMGF Foundation “had invested as much as $20 million in research for the golden rice variety developed in IRRI,” Gates may have come because of that. “The genetically modified crop ostensibly holds out hope for cheaper, easier-to-propagate and fortified rice that can be used to fight hunger and malnutrition in developing countries,” the online news portal said.
Rice, known in the science world as oryza sativa, helps feed almost half the people on the planet. And, in the Philippines, rice is the leading staple food. In fact, Filipinos spend more on rice than any other food. Rice is the country’s leading staple food. As the late food epicure Doreen Fernandez wrote: “If we did not have rice, our deepest comfort food, we would probably feel less Filipino.”
Although rice is basically a complex carbohydrate, its protein contains all eight of the essential amino acids and complements the amino acids found in other foods. Low in sodium and fat, with no cholesterol or gluten, rice is a boon to weight worriers and those allergic to other grains. Aside from carbohydrates, rice also contains protein, minerals, vitamins and fiber.
Balancing cereal-based diets with vegetables and animal products is one approach used in some developing countries to address malnutrition problems. But results were frustrating. Vegetables and animal products are expensive and seasonal, subject to spoilage because of limited storage and transport. Moreover, their availability in some countries is not even one-fourth of what is required to meet the needs of the people.
In the Philippines, fortification and supplementation programs were launched. An attempt was made to enrich rice by fortifying it with the much-needed nutrients. But it didn’t linger on for some economic reasons.
Some scientists thought of packing more nutrients into rice as one of the best methods to attack the malnutrition problem. And this is where golden rice came into the picture. It was in the Philippines where the first-generation golden rice was first tested in advanced field trials in IRRI in 2008.
It is called golden rice because it contains beta-carotene, which is converted to vitamin A when eaten. “Because rice is so popular in the Philippines,” IRRI says, “providing rice that is more nutritious and that contains beta carotene could help boost people’s vitamin A status. In turn this could reduce the extent and impact of vitamin A deficiency among Filipinos.”
Consuming adequate amounts of vitamin A reduces overall child mortality by 23 to 34 percent. A research published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2009 showed that daily consumption of a cup of rice, about 150 grams uncooked weight, could supply half of the Recommended Daily Allowance of vitamin A for an adult.
Vitamin A is found naturally in many food, including liver of chicken, beef, pork and fish. Most of them, however, can be found in root crops (carrot and sweet potato) vegetables (broccoli and tomato), and milk products (cheese and butter), and fruits (papaya, mango, melon).
Most of these sources, however, are beyond the reach of poor people, particularly those living in shanty places, upland areas and rural communities. So, some scientists came up of an unthinkable idea: that of putting vitamin A in rice, as 89 percent of Filipinos consume rice on a daily basis.
Normally, rice plants produce beta-carotene in their green parts, but not the grain that people eat. Golden rice is genetically engineered to produce beta-carotene in the edible part of the plant.
Using genetic modification techniques, respected scientists developed golden rice using genes from corn and a common soil microorganism that, together, produce beta-carotene in the rice grain.
According to IRRI, conventional breeding programs could not be used to develop golden rice because rice varieties do not contain significant amounts of beta-carotene.
In addition, plant breeders at IRRI are also developing nutrient-rich rice with iron and zinc. Iron improves the cognitive performances of children, increases productivity of adults and reduces low birth weights and deaths caused by anemia. Zinc, on the other hand, is known for its potency in promoting the growth of children and is associated with decreased diarrhea incidence.
“Even slightly more nutritious rice could mean healthier people,” IRRI said. “If the iron and zinc content could be doubled—or tripled—the health of those at-risk people could be dramatically improved.”
But, despite the good things that golden rice brings, there are those who are against its commercialization. “A rip-off of the public trust,” deplored the Rural Advancement Foundation International, an advocacy group based in Canada.
One of the key arguments is that golden rice, once sold, will serve only the interest of multinational companies, an issue that is well-anchored on intellectual property rights.
Others claim that the golden rice was just a ploy of agrochemical companies. To quote the words of Father Shay Cullen in an article he wrote recently: “They own and supply the specific fertilizer that makes the seed grow and upon which it is dependent. In this way, the corporations control the food supply through their genetically-modified seed and food products.”
International group Greenpeace, which has made a concerted effort to block golden rice’s introduction since it was announced in 2000, claims that vitamin A-fortified rice may not be effective in delivering vitamin A to children.