Introduction
The golden rice project is mainly focused on reducing the increasing number of people dying from diseases related to lack of nutrients in the food substances that they consume daily. Many people are dying in the modern world especially in the developing countries with Africa having a great number of countries of victims and this is due to a lack of efficient solutions to solve their problems thus the golden rice project is one of the solutions that have been put in place. Most food substances that are consumed by people lack necessary nutrients such as vitamins or proteins. According to research by GNLD, most people only prefer eating food substances that are full of proteins like red meat which eventually contributes to the increased number of people who suffer from cancer, obesity, and other heart problems and this is what makes the mortality rate continue increasing with time. Red meat contributes a lot to heart diseases thus people are advised to embrace solutions such as the golden rice since this increases the chances of people being taught to use food nutrients that can help their body systems fight against such diseases (Mew).
The golden rice solution mainly focuses on reducing the mortality rate of people in developing countries and it does this through offering solutions to their problems. The increased number of people dying from deficiencies is due to the fact that they consume food that lacks vitamin A, zinc, and iodine which are very important for them. Most of the time it is children who suffer from these types of diseases due to the fact that their body immune systems are very weak and cannot fight against some of these diseases very well. It affects their development since their immune systems are very weak and cannot withstand these diseases and they finally die. One of the best ways to reduce the number of children and adults dying from these types of diseases is through introducing them to healthy eating methods and this means that they are supposed to be taught how to eat healthy food that will help their bodies fight against diseases that can hinder them from developing or can lead to increase of their mortality rate. People should be encouraged to eat nutrients such as fruits, vegetables, and other animal products that are not harmful to their health. The introduction of healthy eating habits that have all these food nutrients being combined can really help reduce the number of victims suffering from diseases related to unhealthy eating habits in developing countries (David).
The golden rice project has several options towards reducing the mortality rate of people suffering from unhealthy eating habits and one of these options is introducing them to healthy eating habits which involve teaching them to eat food that is composed of proteins, carbohydrates and vitamins. The second option that the golden rice project offers involves encouraging people to plant crops that are stapled and full of nutrients. One of the most preferred staple crops that they are encouraged to plant is sweet potatoes since it is affordable for them and that these crops are rich in vitamin A. there are two types of sweet potatoes, the white ones which are not very rich in vitamin A and the orange-flesh which are also referred to as biofortified and are rich in vitamin A. Introducing these ideas to people in the developing countries that are suffering from diseases related to healthy eating habits is very important and very helpful because it encourages them to continue staying healthy with their immune systems ability to fight against certain diseases (Miller). The golden rice project involves planting rice in most of these developing countries because rice is full of nutrients that are highly recommended in order to fight against some diseases in their body systems. Rice is composed of carotene or vitamin A and a variable of nutrients that can help the body fight against diseases and its outer layer also contains some fats that are very nutritious and are lost during the milling process. Even though rice contains several nutrients, some of these nutrients are removed during its development and the absence of genes providing vitamin A in them contributes to people becoming blind and also increases the mortality rate of children in developing countries. People should embrace ideas that contribute to the development of society since everyone has the right to live a healthy life and that everyone should participate in activities that lead to scientific advancement in society.
The Major Risks of Golden Rice Project
The major risks of the golden rice project are mainly related to their storage, test conditions, pricing strategies, customer acceptance, Opposition from NGOs, inadequate supply against high demand, and that vendors who do not comply with them in the market. The manner in which golden rice is stored matters a lot because this can also affect the manner in which it is consumed in society and this means that if it is well stored then chances of it becoming destroyed is very low. The impact of climate and crop failure is also one of the risks of the golden rice project because this means that if the climate is not favorable then the crops cannot be reliable as part of the solution in developing countries. Pricing strategy is also a risk to the golden rice project because this means that when the prices are high then many people may not be able to afford to buy it as compared to when the prices are low. Customer acceptance is also another risk since this implies that the customers might not accept it in the market hence implementing golden rice hard be done towards offering solutions to healthy eating modalities in developing countries. Opposition from NGOs is also another risk since most of them do not embrace such ideas. The supply might not meet the number of people that require these products thus implementing this project can be very hard since there are very few people who will be reached by these services. When the vendor does not comply with the product it also becomes very hard to implement this project in a developing country since the vendor might not be able to explain to the buyers what the product is composed of and this becomes a very big hindrance towards the implementation of this project (David).
Mitigation Plan
The mitigation plan should ensure that all the plans towards implementing the project are well approached and planned in advance and this will be through ensuring that there is adequate trained personnel who can be depended upon implementing the plan in developing countries where the plan is required more. The mitigation plan should also focus on providing solutions that are potential in controlling diseases and pests and improving the nutritional content of the golden rice just like green biotechnology does. Other plans such as being concerned with the climatic conditions of where the rice is grown are also one thing that the golden plan should be more concerned with since this also makes the mitigation plan possible. As part of the mitigation plan, the golden rice should be made to reach into the markets where they are required by society especially in developing countries since this will also help to counterfeit problems related to poor eating habits. The mitigation plan should be more concerned with counterfeiting the risks of the golden rice project and this means that it will be more involved with the risk treatment (Mew). Climate and crop failure as one of the risks that this project is going to face can be solved by ensuring that these crops are all insured because this will decrease it becoming a risk towards the development of the project. For customers to accept products being offered by the golden rice project, it is good to ensure that the products have been well advertised in the market so that the society is aware of it and that the prices should be made affordable enough for the society in developing countries. The NGOs cannot oppose the introduction of these products in society if people in the developing countries are well educated on how to utilize them (Mew). Inadequate supply in relation to the number of demand can also be solved by ensuring that the products are well educated upon and highly introduced into the market and are highly produced in developing countries. If the products are well advertised and vendors are highly educated upon them and given samples for them to use so as to explain to the buyers about the products it becomes easy to sell them in the market that is not aware of them. Implementing all the named mitigation plans above is very important since this is one of the only ways of gaining the trust of people in the society and most developing countries will become convinced to apply the golden rice project.
Risks of Golden Rice
Introducing golden rice into society might have risks such as contributing to poor eating habits through people becoming more focused on eating the golden rice and neglecting other foods that could be having more nutrients than the golden rice. The Golden rice plan might take a long to reach people who really need it in the developing countries hence making it a risk for people to wait for the plan to be implemented. Inadequate training of the people who are supposed to educate people in the society on the way to utilize golden rice can also contribute to the failure of the mitigation plan. The development plans that will have been brought about by the introduction of growing golden rice in the developing countries might take much longer than expected to be implemented hence making it unreliable and this calls for a second option to be considered. Since the introduction of the golden rice into society will be more towards reducing diseases affecting people with poor eating habits, the golden rice can be risky because it might not have all the required nutrients hence if it going to be depended upon it might not promising enough (David). Consuming golden rice might not necessarily help the body mechanisms of people to be able to fight against all the possible diseases that could affect them.
Safety Assessment
It is very important that society is well educated on the products that the golden rice project wants to offer to society and this means that society has to be ensured that there is environmental safety, especially for transgenic plants. Making society familiar with these products is very important because makes people have more information on the products that they want to start using in society. This makes it easy for society to assess the product that they are being introduced to this they become more knowledgeable on it and more experienced when utilizing them. The assessment will be effective because it will involve acquiring more information on the product that is being produced and the environment in which the golden rice project is being implemented (Miller). The study on golden rice has been done deeply to ensure that there are no compromises when implementing this project in developing countries and it has ensured all these through doing tests that are convincing and effective. Some of the tests that have been carried out have proved that the golden rice has a golden color and enough study has been done on its endosperm. Its genetic structure has also been well studied upon and there are no changes that involve unexpected gross that has been found. The transgenic proteins have also been well investigated upon and this means that the analysis is effective since it has also proved that the product has no allergenic potential. The assessment of golden rice has been done very well in that all the important research has been done on it and deeply explained to the society and this is what will help developing countries to grow well.
Works Cited
David, Evans. Transgenic Crops: international environmental assessment. London: Winrock International, 2001.Print.
Mew, Trever. Rice Science: innovations and impacts for livelihood. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. Print.
Miller, Timothy. Living in the environment: principles, connections and solutions. New York: Cengage Learning, 2003. Print.