At the turn of the 19th century, the ruling and academic class considered it the "white man's burden" for American and European elites to direct the cultural and economic development of the Africans and Asians living in their far-flung colonies and territories.

Without the implied racism but all of the arrogance, there are a great many sated and comfortable Western elites who want to ensure that the hungry of the Third World are brought out of their misery only through means that appeal to their own liberal sensibilities. The only solutions they support are those they describe as ecological and sustainable, and that excludes any transgenic crop varieties, synthetic fertilizers and chemical pesticides. Period.

The growing problem of world hunger and the challenge of increasing agricultural production are well known. The world's population, now more than 7 billion, is expected to hit 9 billion by 2050. The amount of farmland, and the number of farmers, is shrinking at a time when food production will need to increase by 70 percent.

Billionaire software magnate and philanthropist Bill Gates has been an outspoken advocate for increased agricultural research and innovation that will foster a second green revolution, the great effort led by the late Norman Borlaug to develop and transfer technology and practices that increased world ag productivity threefold in the second half of the last century.

He has put his money where his mouth is. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has spent hundreds of millions funding projects developing both conventional and transgenic seed varieties and cropping methods tailored to the conditions of the small farms typical of the developing world. There is no one-size-fits-all solution to the problem, and the pragmatic approach demands that a variety of technologies and techniques be developed.

He is unapologetic in his support of advanced technology, but like most of us who support transgenic crops he admits that not all genetically modified crops are worth releasing.

"I think the right way to think about GMOs is the same way we think about drugs," Gates told The Associated Press last week. "Whenever someone creates a new drug, you have to have very smart people looking at lots of trial-based data to make sure the benefits far outweigh any of the dangers."

That makes sense. But to critics of advanced technologies, Gates offered a blunt warning: Countries can embrace modern seed technology and genetic modification or their citizens will starve.

Gates says it's important that farmers in developing countries have a voice in determining their future, and the right to choose from among the full range of those techniques and technologies that best fit their situation. We could not agree more.

Noblesse oblige.