If golden rice is so great, why hasn’t it saved any lives yet?
Controversy is probably the single biggest issue holding golden rice back. Public outcry against all GMOs, whether warranted or not, have resulted in significantly increase regulation on GMO products like golden rice. Many countries are reluctant to allow farmers to grow them. Fortunately, multiple food safety agencies, Including the US FDA and the New Zealand equivalent, have determine that there are not health or safety concerns with golden rice (15). Applications to grown them in the Philippines, where they could be incredibly beneficial, are underway. Even better, golden rice is free to use for subsistence farmers (16).

That last line is why it is not more widely grown, because there is no profit motive, other GMOs are widespread because Monsanto makes money off of selling both the seed and the roundup they are modified to accept. Nobody is getting rich selling this stuff right?