La reciente y continua volatilidad en los precios de los alimentos ha hecho tomar conciencia de la importancia de la Agricultura Urbana y Periurbana (AUP) como un importante recurso de la seguridad alimentaria y nutricional, tanto en términos del suministro de alimentos, como de generación de empleo e ingresos para la población de bajos recursos y por su contribución al equilibrio del desarrollo nacional y a un ambiente urbano más vivible.
Agricultural biotechnology and, specifically, the development of genetically modified (GM) crops have been controversial for several reasons, including concerns that the technology poses potential negative environmental or health effects, that the technology would lead to the (further) corporatization of agriculture, and that it is simply unethical to manipulate life in the laboratory. GM crops have been part of the agricultural landscape for more than 15 years and have now been adopted on more than 170 million hectares (ha) in both developed countries (48%) and developing countries (52%).