Greenpeace’s Blocking and Delay of Golden Rice Has Led to Over 100,000 Unnecessary Deaths and Hundreds of Thousands of Unnecessary Blindnesses Due to Vitamin A Deficiency, According to New Calculations

     Greenpeace, its supporters, and those it convinced that genetically engineered ingredients were dangerous, have managed to block the rollout of GMO golden rice for over two decades. According to new calculations, this has resulted in over 100,000 unnecessary deaths and millions of unnecessary blindnesses in developing countries. That is a very sad fact. This rice is not dangerous, but it can prevent these blindnesses and deaths by simply providing sufficient vitamin A. Golden Rice is fortified with beta-carotene, a precursor of vitamin A, which gives it a golden-yellow color. Other than that, it is no different from other rice. This is a clear case where the Precautionary Principle harms. It kills. The results are according to new calculations by DC Abundance founder and research director at the Golden Gate Institute for AI, Abi Olvera. She notes that the

 "delay has killed about 106,000 children and left another 210,000 to 425,000 blind."

     According to the World Health Organization, vitamin A deficiency blinds 250,000 to 500,000 people every year. The deficiency also weakens the immune system, so they are likely to be sickened and die from other causes. About one-third of children worldwide are vitamin A-deficient, and about half of children in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia are vitamin A-deficient.

     Golden Rice is licensed for free to any farmer earning $10,000 or less per year. It has been ready since 2000, but today it doesn’t grow anywhere. This is a crime. Why has it happened? Because the anti-GMO forces are strong and somehow convincing to those in power in the countries that need the rice.

     Olvera notes:

“That works out to roughly fourteen children dying every single day, for twenty years, from a nutrient we already know how to add to food.”

“If a new disease were killing fourteen children a day, it would have an internationally-recognized name and a task force. Golden Rice got vilified as one word instead: GMO.”

     She points out that we have been eating many different GMOs for decades with zero ill effects.

     Ronald Bailey, who has been advocating against Greenpeace’s blocking and delay of Golden Rice for decades, calls their opposition “scientifically ridiculous.”

"If ever there was a clear-cut cause for outrage, it is the concerted campaign by Greenpeace and other nongovernmental organizations, as well as by individuals, against Golden Rice."

“In 2016, I reported the open letter by 100 Nobel Prize laureates calling on "Greenpeace to cease and desist in its campaign against Golden Rice specifically, and crops and foods improved through biotechnology in general." The laureates suggested that Greenpeace was committing a "crime against humanity." And as recently as 2024, I warned that Greenpeace's crusade against Golden Rice will continue to blind and kill children when reporting that the anti-technology activist group had persuaded a Philippine court to block local farmers from planting the grain.”

     He is referring to the Philippines’ 2024 decision to block its 2021 approval of Golden Rice, which was immediately blocked by Greenpeace and the courts.

     Olvera notes that there is hope that future beneficial GM crops won’t be able to be easily blocked with inexpensive lawsuits like Golden Rice has been blocked for over 25 years.

“…the Global South is engineering crops of its own now, aimed at preventing harm, like pests and crop failure, rather than high margins or novelty. One is a cassava richer in iron and zinc. The more of these that become normal, the harder it gets to keep blocking the one that should have come first.”

     We can do better, and we should keep in mind that the Precautionary Principle can do and often does more harm than good, in this case, much more harm.

References:

 

Over 100,000 kids have died due to Greenpeace blocking genetically enhanced rice, new calculation shows. Ronald Bailey. Reason. June 17, 2026. Over 100,000 kids have died due to Greenpeace blocking genetically enhanced rice, new calculation shows

A blocked GMO rice could have saved 100,000 children. The same tech makes pineapples pink: A rice that could prevent childhood blindness and death has been ready for two decades. It still isn't growing anywhere. The same technology is safely used in the U.S. on luxury pineapples. Abi Olvera. Positive Sum. Substack. June 16, 2026. A blocked GMO rice could have saved 100,000 children. The same tech makes pineapples pink.