An international development organization, in response to a vitamin A deficiency among people in the impoverished nation of Tagus, has engineered a new breed of millet high in vitamin A. While seeds for this new type of millet cost more, farmers will be p

The argument makes several unsupported claims about combating the vitamin A deficiency in Tagus. It is possible that the recommendation is valid, but more information is needed to accurately determine the validity of the author's claims.

The author notes that the newly engineered millet will cost more than the standard variety of millet. This financial burden on the farmers may not be completely alleviated by the purported subsidies. It may be that the subsidies are far too insignificant relative to the high millet price. If this is the case, farmers will have little incentive to grow this new millet. Even if they do, the higher cost of production may transfer to the consumers, hindering the impoverished people's access to vitamin A. Therefore, the author should quantify the higher cost as well as the subsidy so one can determine its relevance.

The argument assumes that the Tagus citizens will have access to the new millet. However, it is possible that the vitamin A deficiency is high among poor families that are unable to afford enough nutritious meals. There is no guarantee that even if a seed high in vitamin A is available that those in need will have access to it, financially or physically.

The recommendation relies heavily on the assumption that the people will readily adopt the engineered seed. It does not take into account the likely scenario that the populace will not trust a genetically-modified food source. More information is needed to accurately evaluate this claim. For example, have the people of Tagus trusted genetically engineered food before? If they have, then his assumption is more strongly supported.

A new breed of millet may or may not solve the vitamin deficiency in Tagus. Yet from the argument presented, it is difficult to determine the likely outcome.