Responsible Leadership

• call for people to go back to the land and work so as to be inde-
  pendent in order to put an end to a kind of generalised idleness ;


• take legal positions and regulations towards GMOs ; and


• provide researchers with sufficient financial means for consid-
  erable specialisation.

c) Food policy :it is possible to find products on the market emerging
from this new agricultural technology, particularly as food aid
from the USA, Japan, Italy, and other countries. Hunger results
from the normal functioning of the market economy where food
goes to those who can afford it, a theory supported by the econo-
mist Nobel prize Amartya Sen. GMOs and technologies of rich
countries may on the contrary reinforce the food dependency of
poorest countries and not reduce hunger in the world. That is why
effort should be turned towards understanding the real aspirations
of people, and searching for positive answers through sustainable,
GMO-free food policy, instead of reinforcing structures that
worsen hunger by a total foreign dependence. Leaders should
therefore :

• inform the population, particularly on possible consumption
  testing of these products, and already evaluate effects ;


• take into consideration supposed or real fears formulated by
  specialists ;


• take bravely any measure, possibly including the refusal of cer-
  tain doubtful food aid as allowed by the food aid guidelines
  issued by the Food and Agricultural Organisation ;^12


• avoid the trap of consuming only from abroad because it is
  better ; and


• reinforce and encourage teachings that fight malnutrition and
  promise a balanced diet.

Conclusion

The present survey is not designed to terrify the opinion by totally
discrediting new agricultural technologies and GMOs as products that
science proposes to the humanity. Now is the time to draw people’s
attention, bring governments to define a ‘proactive’ policy, and
become more responsible towards the realities that make up our
modern world. This is the modest call that this article wants to
launch, so that leaders (politicians, scientists and others) be more
conscious of their own responsibilities in view of the lasting develop-

302 Responsible Leadership : Global Perspectives