Topic: 2024-GMOs and Food Security
Country: Jordan
Delegate Name: Kaianne Sayen
The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is facing struggles with its food security because we have limited agricultural land along with an arid climate and a strong reliance on food imports. These challenges have recently worsened due to rising food prices globally and climate change. We are cautious in our use of GMOs due to public concerns and potential environmental effects. People are concerned about the misinformation spread about GMOs relating to health concerns and the reliance on corporations for efficient crop growth. However, GMOs can also improve our food security. For example, crops can be modified to require less resources. While the country has yet to implement the use of GMOs, much of our imported food contains genetically modified ingredients. We are aware of the many potential benefits of GMOs as related to food security and want to take advantage of this. On the other hand, we want to address the health concerns related to the use of GMOs and we would like to conduct research and educate our people on the effects of GMOs. Additionally, concerns of straying from natural cultural agricultural practices have been expressed and Jordan will aim to simply enhance what we have rather than replace it. Jordan wants to implement the use of GMOs to promote food security while also maintaining sustainability and health. We also want to educate our people on the implementation of GMOs to remove the uncertainty surrounding the issue. We recommend that the committee conduct extensive research on the health and environmental impacts of genetically modified organisms and to make this research transparent to the public eye to reduce uncertainty about GMOs. Lastly, we recommend that the use of GMOs is used for the enhancement of traditionally agricultural practices rather than the replacement of them.
