The man often described as a thorn in the side of proponents of genetic engineering of agricultural crops and animals says he isn't opposed to genetic engineering, but he is for strict regulation of it, and is adamantly against patenting living things.

Tewolde Berhan Gebre Egziabher, general manager of Ethiopia's Environmental Protection Authority, recently lectured at Whitman College and at Washington State University, and was interviewed by the Capital Press in Walla Walla.

His visit was sponsored by the Ashton and Virginia O'Donnell Endowment at Whitman.

The diminutive Ethiopian is a much-honored scientist and a major player in diplomatic battles over the future of agriculture in developing nations.

Egziabher is credited with helping defeat U.S. and European Union interests that oppose international restrictions on genetic engineering.

After years of struggle, Egziabher helped negotiate restrictive rules at what is known as the Montreal Accord. They protect biodiversity by restricting genetically modified food crops and animals. They also ensure the rights of farmers and communities in developing countries to control their future.

Egziabher told the Capital Press industrialized agriculture needs to understand that technologies that work well in large-farm industrialized agriculture are often ill-suited to developing nations where conditions and economic and social structures are very different.

There is a difference between scientists sitting and dreaming what the solution will be and learning what works. "The trouble is that with anything humans do, they must keep testing to see how it will work," Egziabher said.

"You should start with what farmers themselves know what they need. Unfortunately that is a route not frequently taken by researchers."

Egziabher said, "In Ethiopia, we have found whether we use chemical fertilizer or compost, we get the same kind of increasing productivity."

A big improvement in Ethiopian farming comes when crops are protected from destruction by walking animals. Composting and restricting livestock activities greatly reduces or eliminates soil erosion and increases water infiltration.

"The impact of drought decreases, water for irrigation increases. You increase the growing cycle for the crops as well by improving your land management," Egziabher said.

He says genetically modified crops pose risks for traditional agriculture and can even threaten the livelihood of commercial farmers in the United States and other highly developed countries.

He cited a Saskatchewan farmer, Percy Schmeiser, who said he was forced out of agriculture after patented canola was found in his field and he was sued by the patent holder. Yet, Egziabher said, Schmeiser insists he didn't plant the patented seed. Rather, he believes the non-patented crop was contaminated by cross pollination.

Egziabher called that "an iniquitous ... horrible law."

And he says contamination of traditional crops by genetically engineered plants is a particular threat to small farmers who have carefully selected varieties, over thousands of years, that are highly adapted to their localities.

The average Ethiopian farmer has a highly diversified operation involving both crops and livestock on less than 5 acres. They can't afford to buy genetically modified seed, even if they wanted to. Egziabher also questions whether monocultures demanded by industrial agriculture and forestry will be viable in the long term.

He said we have only a few decades of experience with them, and they destroy biological diversity where they are employed.

While protecting biodiversity is a major concern about genetically engineered plants and animals, Egziabher acknowledges that even traditional agriculture has reduced biodiversity.

"The agrcultural revolution started 10,000 years ago," he said. "The fact we have developed farms and kept domestic animals has meant the replacement of those species that used to be there. So agriculture by definition removes species ... replaces species.

"On the other hand, though, a lot of diversity has developed in the development of crops and domestic animals by human-aided evolution. Humans want one particular trait and they select for it. The agricultural revolution has meant both a destruction of biodiversity and also the creation of biodiversity."

A major concern of scientists such as Egziabher lies in the nature of agriculture in the developing countries of Africa, South America, Asia and elsewhere.

"In Africa we have small-holder farmers, mostly. Most farmers cultivate about 2 hectares (4.942 acres) of land. That is their sole livelihood.

"Farms are highly diversified including both plants and animals. It's usually both. Very often, a single farmer may grow 10 crops."

Just as Egziabher recognizes a place for genetically modified organisms, he also has "no problem with chemicals" where their use is appropriate. "If you bring in chemicals such as fertilizer, it should be only in addition to a well-managed environment. If you manage your farm system well you reduce the amount of chemical fertilizer you need.

"One of the problems with chemical fertilizer is that these poor farmers have little money. Cash is not easy to come by. It is an economic argument rather than a shunning of chemical fertilizers."

Egziabher said chemical fertilizers are extensively used in Ethiopia, but "we are trying to reduce the use, particularly with petroleum prices increasing. Chemical fertilizer is becoming more and more out of reach of the small farmers."

And, where they are used extensively, Egziabher said they reduce biodiversity and are less effective in boosting crop production than they are in what some call industrial agriculture.

That's because the traditional varieties haven't been bred to respond to chemicals the way many crops have been bred for use in industrial agriculture. We must manage soil so productivity can be maximized.

But Egziabher said he understands the need for herbicides on America's large farms - huge by comparison with traditional African agriculture.

"But in those parts of the world where we have more people on the land - the whole developing world - maximize hand-weeding, rather than the herbicides."

International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications that said 8.5 million farmers in 21 countries now grow genetically modified varieties means that the horse is already out barn, Egziabher said, "It's too early to say that GM is taking over."

He said the majority of farmers now growing GM varieties are in three counties; the United States, Canada and Argentina. In the other countries it's a small number of farmers.

"GM crops are still only a very small percentage of crops that are being grown. Even in the United States, you do grow many of your species non-GM. Soybeans, cotton and maize are the big three GM crops."