Farmers and scientists will come together at an international conference later this week to discuss the threat of genetic engineering (GE) on livelihoods and the environment.

The conference with the theme 'Science for the people: Challenging genetic engineering and agrochemicals' will be held at the Asia Pacific Development Centre in Kuala Lumpur, 9am, this Saturday.

Participants are expected to offer different views on GE and genetically modified organism (GMO) which giant companies tout as the "solution" to the world's problems such as famine, food and crop production obstacles, and minimising pollution.

Farmers and scientists from Malaysia, Indonesia, India, South Korea and the United States, among other countries, will rebut the popular claims that major 'gene giants' have promoted through their million-dollar advertising campaigns.