UNITED STATES - Bill Gates spoke to the Verge on GMOs and what he thinks their contribution will be to the state of world hunger.

Depending on who you ask, genetically modified organisms or GMOs, are either the solution to malnutrition and hunger in the developing world or a threat to food sovereignty. For example, on average, Ugandans eat a pound of bananas daily — more than any other population. But this important resource has been threatened by a bacterial wilt disease, turning the banana plant’s sap into ooze, wilting the leaves, rotting the fruit, and eventually destroying the crop.

Banana wilt was first seen in Uganda in 2001, and neither pesticides nor chemicals have stopped it, according to The Verge. Farmers tried to control the wilt’s spread by burning infected plants and disinfecting tools, but the disease cut Ugandan banana yields by as much as half from 2001 to 2004. In the country’s central region, wilt hit 80% of plants, and sometimes knocked out whole fields, according to a report from The Guardian.

So scientists at Uganda’s National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO), a recipient of funding from the Gates Foundation, created a genetically modified banana by inserting a green pepper gene into the banana’s genome. Evidence shows the new gene triggers a process that kills infected cells, saving the plant. NARO wants to give the seeds away for free, but no regulation exists around GMOs in Uganda, and 2000’s Cartagena protocol ensures Uganda is obligated to take a cautionary approach to GMO technology. According to The Verge, the Ugandan government is looking to passing a law that would allow the introduction of GMOs, including the bacteria-resistant banana. However, some food scientists worry it may open the door to corporate exploitation by multinational companies.

Watch this video by The Verge below for Bill Gates' take on the issue. 

This year, the Gates Foundation’s annual letter points to innovations in farming as a revolution that will transform the lives of the poor over the next 15 years, particularly in Africa. The UN’s World Food Programme estimates over 800 million individuals, or one in nine people on the planet, struggle to eat enough food on a regular basis. In places like Sub-Saharan Africa, hunger is a tremendous problem. Ironically, 70 percent of the population in the region are farmers. But the prevalence of hunger there is among the highest in the world, with one in five people being undernourished.

Bill Gates suggests that a new generation of highly productive crops are part of the solution to address global hunger. Seeds that are drought-resistant, disease-resistant, productive, and nutritious could be a huge benefit to farmers, according to The Verge. Some of the crops can be bred through traditional methods, but Gates thinks many African countries will adopt GMOs.

GMOs have been widely publicized as a means to end hunger and malnutrition. Engineering for specific traits, like the wilt-resistant banana in Uganda, could make farmers less vulnerable to crop loss. "GMO-derived seeds will provide far better productivity, better drought tolerance, salinity tolerance, and if the safety is proven, then the African countries will be among the biggest beneficiaries," Bill Gates told The Verge.

The Gates Foundation suggests that by using better fertilizer and more productive crops such as GMOs, African farmers could "theoretically double their yields." (The average yield per acre in Africa is one-fifth of that in the US.)  "With the right investments," the Gates letter continues, it may be possible for farmers on the continent to "increase productivity by 50% overall.”

Uganda’s wilt-resistant banana is the best possible scenario for GMO adoption, in some respects. The strain was created by local scientists and because it’s being distributed for free, won’t lead to capital from farmers flowing out of the country, according to The Verge. But some activists are concerned that the banana GMO will open the door to other crops with destructive consequences. "Farmers have been told that the GMOs are almost the same as non-GMOs," Ellady Muyambi, an Environmental Scientist at the Uganda Network on Toxic Free Malaria, told NPR. "But they would have to go to a company to buy the seeds. Many farmers can’t afford expensive seeds. They would have no rights."

Hunger in Uganda is a bigger issue than the impact of one GMO law. Evidence suggests that improving farmer education programs and infrastructure investment can have a bigger impact than increasing productivity alone. Without infrastructure and policy changes, more food won’t eliminate hunger. And while GMOs like the wilt-resistant banana may save critical crops, it’s not clear if they can ensure food security in these hungry communities.