The rise of organic farming and rejection of GM crops in Britain
and other developed countries is largely to blame for the
impoverishment of Africa, according to the government's former
chief scientist. Sir David King, who left the job at the end of
last year, says anti-scientific attitudes towards modern
agriculture are being exported to Africa and holding back a
green revolution that could dramatically improve the continent's
food supply. King, who is due to give the presidential address
at the British Association's Festival of Science in Liverpool
this evening, will criticise non-governmental organisations and
the UN in his speech for backing traditional farming techniques,
which he says cannot provide enough food for the continent's
growing population. "The problem is that the western world's
move toward organic farming - a lifestyle choice for a community
with surplus food - and against agricultural technology in
general and GM in particular, has been adopted across the whole
of Africa, with the exceptio