Verbal Aptitude

Consider the passage: 'Some agronomists argue that genetically modified crops are essential to feeding the future population. **This claim is based on the premise that global food scarcity is caused by insufficient crop production capacity.** But global hunger stems primarily from inequitable distribution and post-harvest waste. Hence, GM crops alone will not resolve global hunger.' The boldface statement functions to:

Options:

• (A) State an underlying assumption of an opposing position that the author goes on to dispute.
• (B) Express the author's own conclusion.
• (C) Provide evidence that post-harvest waste causes hunger.
• (D) Defend the essential nature of genetically modified crops.