Towards Sustainable Agriculture: Inventing an Ideal Ethical Tool for Malaysian Farmers in Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) Era

Abstract

Sustainable agriculture is an ecological approach to unravelling essential issues related to food production. Biotechnology, in particular, the genetic modification (GM) technology, is considered one way to sustain food security. Farmers, the main actors in modern agriculture, have always been absent in the debates involving GM technology, giving rise to whether their rights are at the forefront when debating these issues. Ethical principles serve as criteria for evaluating policies' practices concerning technology. This paper, therefore, discusses the principles of ethical indicators and guidelines for releasing genetically modified organisms (GMOs) into the environment to protect Malaysian farmers. Applying the qualitative research method, a systematic literature review of secondary sources on genetically modified (GM) crops from socio-economic, politic, institutional, social, cultural, safety, religious, common and morality as well as environmental effects are analysed to consolidate the evidence in developing the potential ethical indicators to protect farmers' rights.