Copying one of the white man hopes end in failure in Africa

Dusty ElbowA1

What is one of "His" hope? Genetic engineering promises. His instance does not translate well to our instance. Not against the "white" man but dont boast when people lives are on the line and ultimately wasted in vanity.

Gene crops no help to Africa so far - report
Tue Jan 10, 2006 5:46 PM GMT172

By Manoah Esipisu

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Gene-altered crops have made little impact in ending rampant poverty and hunger in Africa or elsewhere a decade after the first significant plantings, two anti-GMO lobbyists said on Tuesday.

The Africa Centre for Biosafety and Friends of the Earth Nigeria said in a report issued in Johannesburg that promises by biotech corporations that genetically modified organisms (GMOs) would offer cheap quality food for Africa remained unfulfilled.

"Contrary to the promises made by the biotech industry, the reality of the last 10 years shows that the safety of GM crops cannot be ensured and that these crops are neither cheaper nor (of) better quality," said Nnimmo Bassey of Friends of the Earth Nigeria.

"Biotech crops are not a solution to solve hunger in Africa or elsewhere," he said in the report.

But U.S. biotech giant Monsanto rejected that conclusion, saying there were thousands of documented benefits of GMO technologies in South Africa, China, India and parts of America.

"With the exception of South Africa, which still produces a surplus of food, no other African, poverty stricken country has yet had the opportunity to plant transgenic food crops -- they are still in the process of implementing regulatory legislation," Andrew Bennett, a Johannesburg-based Monsanto official, told Reuters.

"So, clearly, these technologies have not had the opportunity to impact hunger and poverty. It is not coincidental that the only country in Africa that has approved transgenic crops is the only one with a surplus of grain and is also able to supply food to its neighbours," Bennett added.

The report said GMO crops in Africa would not solve hunger because most crops so far available were meant for animal feed and did not target hunger or poverty.

It said the GMO sweet potato in Kenya, presented by researchers as a key crop to help African agriculture, had shown little success by the end of January 2004.

It also said that after 10 years of GMO crop cultivation more than 80 percent of the area cultivated with biotech crops was still concentrated in only three countries -- the United States, Argentina and Canada.

Intensive cultivation of GMO soybeans in South America contributed to deforestation, and had been associated with a decline in soil fertility and soil erosion, the report added.

Monsanto's Bennett said his group and other biotech corporations were profit-driven but gains from their work could be traced around the world where 7 million farmers in 17 countries had planted 81 million hectares of transgenic crops.

1/10/062:57 PM

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FireFlyA1

I don't like anyone tampering with food - whether it's adding Iron to Smart Milk, 'for our-own-good' by our 'trusted friends' the manufacturers, or GM crops and ingredients.

I am vehemently opposed to Genetically Modified food, it's control and lack of real accountability and transparency.

Britian seems smarter than everyone else when it comes to being watchful and voicing their concerns about being forced to consume a GM lifestyle. Keep your eye on the ball and on the product packaging.

.

1/11/061:02 AM

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Dusty ElbowA1

At least you and I have a choice because we can change things with the "power of our dollar". Boycott or have the same companies cater to what our "needs" are. Other places do not have this convenience or option readily. So GMO might be their only choice for everyday eating because of the "weakness of their dollar".

1/12/064:20 PM

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Dusty ElbowA1

From Monsters and Critics.com

Africa News
Mali farmers don`t want GM crops
By UPI
Jan 31, 2006, 19:00 GMT

SIKASSO, Mali (UPI) -- Mali farmers say they don`t want trials of genetically modified crops to begin in their nation -- the fourth poorest country in the world.

The decision came following the first African \'farmers` jury\' to debate the issue, The Independent reported Tuesday. During the five-day meeting arguments for and against GM crop technology were presented.

The meeting was held in southern Mali, where two-thirds of the nation`s cotton is produced and where attacks by bollworm have destroyed large swaths of cotton crops during recent years, the newspaper said.

Biotechnology scientists claim to be able to produce an insect-repellent cotton crop that would survive attacks by bollworm, but environmentalists say GM crops benefits are outweighed by the harm farmers would face.

\'GM technology gives seed companies power over the entire agricultural sector,\' said Michel Pimbert, director of the London-based International Institute for Environment and Development, which organized the meeting.

Farmers said they are also worried new GM technology would damage their way of life. One farmer said he feared GM farming would marginalize \'the mutual help and cooperation among farmers and our social and cultural life.\'

1/31/061:30 PM

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Dusty ElbowA1

US may press Africa on GMOs

By Shapi ShacindaWed Feb 8, 10:35 AM ET

The U.S. may push Africa to accept gene-altered (GMO) food now that the World Trade Organization (WTO) has ruled the EU broke rules by barring GMO foods and seeds, but Africans vowed on Wednesday to resist.

"We do not want GM (genetically modified) foods and our hope is that all of us can continue to produce non-GM foods," Zambian Agriculture Minister Mundia Sikatana told Reuters in Lusaka.

"The decision by the WTO does nothing to change our stand in this matter."

The WTO ruled on Tuesday that the European Union and six member states had broken trade rules by barring entry to genetically modified crops and foods.

A U.S. trade official confirmed findings of the preliminary ruling, contained in a confidential report sent only to the parties. The closely watched verdict addressed a complaint brought against the EU by leading GMO producers the United States, Argentina and Canada.

The European Union's opponents asserted that the moratorium, which Brussels argued was never official, hurt their exports and was not based on science.

Manufacturers of the biotech seeds, designed to increase yields and resist pests better than normal seeds, maintain they are safe for human consumption.

European consumers, fearing the effects of "Frankenstein foods" have resisted them. Even African countries facing food shortages, such as Zambia, have refused to accept gene-altered food donations, arguing their safety had not been ascertained.

Those countries that take in GMO-food demand stringent certifications and milling before it arrives on their borders.

Regional heavyweight South Africa is one of the few countries on the continent to embrace the controversial technology.

SIGNAL TO REST OF THE WORLD

Campaigners and analysts saw the U.S. using the World Trade Organization ruling to press Africans to accept GMO food imports on the basis that Europe, which has usually backed the obstinate African position, will itself have to take them.

"Politically, I think it is very clear that the U.S. will try and use this case to force GMOs into African markets. American industry is already saying that the result is a signal to the rest of the world," Daniel Mittler, trade adviser at Greenpeace International, told Reuters by telephone.

"They are implying that while the EU may be able to resist an outlawing of national bans on GMOs, developing countries will not and will have to open their markets," Mittler said.

Africans argue that better technology to increase irrigation, more widespread use of fertilizers and pesticides, and improved monitoring of market trends will help deliver improved harvests and defeat hunger.

"It is obvious to everyone that the U.S. will interpret the WTO ruling as a message to Africans that it is now time to eat GMOs and stop the noise-making ... after all, the EU has been put on a leash in the matter," said an agriculture consultant in Malawi, one of the countries that often require food aid.

But Zambian minister Sikatana said there was no looking back: "We made a decision based on facts and those facts have not changed. We hope no one in Africa feels they have to change their views based on that ruling, it will not do."

-- Additional reporting by Ed Stoddard in Johannesburg

2/8/065:27 PM

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