VOICES FROM AFRICA AFRICAN FaRMERS AND ENVIRONMENTALISTS SPEAK OUT AGAINST A NEW GREEN REVOLUTION IN AFRICA edited by Anuradha Mittal with Melissa Moore VOICES FROM AFRICA AFRICAN FaRMERS AND ENVIRONMENTALISTS SPEAK OUT AGAINST A NEW GREEN REVOLUTION IN AFRICA edited by Anuradha Mittal with Melissa Moore The Oakland Institute | P.O. Box 18978, Oakland, CA 94619 | oaklandinstitute.org Acknowledgements We are grateful to the authors and organizations for giving us permission to use the articles in this report. This publication was supported by grants to the Oakland Institute from Domitila Barrios de Chungara Fund, the Further Foundation, Grassroots International, the Panta Rhea Foundation, the Presbyterian Hunger Program, Peter Rasmussen and Wei Zhang of the He-Shan World Fund (Tides Foundation), and the Vervane Foundation. Our deepest appreciation to Lionel Derencourt at the Presbyterian Hunger Program and Nikhil Aziz at Grassroots International for supporting this work. We also want to acknowledge our individual members whose valuable support makes our work possible. The recommendations and views expressed in this report are those of the Oakland Institute and the authors, and do not necessarily represent those of the funders. Copyeditor: Melissa Moore Design: Amymade Graphic Design, [email protected] Photograph Credits: We are grateful to Aksel Nærstad of the Development Fund, Norway; Grassroots International; and IFAD for photos used in this report. Cover Photo: Seed Sovereignty: Farmers display seeds from around the world at the Nyéléni World Forum for Food Sovereignty 2007. Photo Courtesy of Grassroots International. Copyright © 2009 by The Oakland Institute The text may be used free of charge for the purposes of advocacy, campaigning, education, and research, provided that the source is acknowledged in full. The copyright holder requests that all such use be registered with them for impact assessment purposes. For copying in any other circumstances, or for re-use in other publications, or for translation or adaptation, permission must be secured. Please email [email protected]. Note This report uses various phrases and acronyms including genetically engineered (GE), genetically modified (GM), and genetically modified organisms (GMOs) to describe genetic engineering and genetically engineered crops. Table of Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................................................ 1 PART ONE: Promoting Genetic Engineering in Africa: Who Stands to Benefit? ..........................................9 Africa’s Wealth of Seed Diversity and Farmer Knowledge Under Threat from the Gates/Rockefeller “Green Revolution” Initiative ............................................................................10 Statement from African Civil Society Organizations, World Social Forum, Kenya, 2007 GMOs Do Not Address the Needs or Concerns of African Farmers ............................................................11 by Ibrahima Coulibaly, President of the Coordination Nationale des Organisations Paysannes du Mali (CNOP), Mali The New Green Revolution in Africa: A Trojan Horse for GMOs ................................................................13 by Mariam Mayet, African Centre for Biosafety, South Africa AGRA—A Blunt Philanthropic Arrow........................................................................................................... 16 by Nnimmo Bassey, Environmental Rights Action, Nigeria PART TWO: Twisting Arms: Efforts to Convert Africa to GE Meet with Civil Society and Farmer Resistance ..................................................................................................................................... 18 Is Africa Being Bullied into Growing GM Crops? ......................................................................................... 19 by David Fig, BioWatch, South Africa The Introduction of Genetically Modified Crops in Africa ............................................................................20 by Nnimmo Bassey, Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth, Nigeria African Food Sovereignty or AGRA? .............................................................................................................24 by Mukoma Wa Ngugi, BBC Focus on Africa Magazine Thika Declaration on GMOs ..........................................................................................................................26 Statement issued at the Kenya Small-Scale Farmers Forum, August 20, 2004 Editorial: How Safe are GM Foods? .............................................................................................................27 Daily Nation, Kenya Statement by Civil Society on Biotech ECOWAS Conference .....................................................................28 Issued at Bamako, Mali, 2005 PART THREE: Turning the Tide Against GE in Africa ............................................................................................................29 Are New Technologies an Answer to the Needs of Small-Scale Farmers? ................................................... 30 by Makhathe Moahloli, Katleho Moho Association (KMA), Lesotho What Kind of Aid Does Africa Need? Not Dumping of Food or Industrial Agriculture .............................32 by Diamantino Nhampossa, União Nacional de Camponeses UNAC (National Peasants Union), Mozambique Twelve Reasons for Africa to Reject GM Crops ............................................................................................ 34 by Zachary Makanya, Participatory Ecological Land Use Management Association (PELUM), Kenya Hands Off Our Food! .......................................................................................................................................37 by Gertrude Kenyangi Kabusimbi, Support for Women in Agriculture and Environment (SWAGEN), Uganda African Communities Must Have the Right to Reject GMOs ....................................................................... 38 Communiqué issued at the Regional Conference on Biosafety, Nigeria, 2006 Resources ....................................................................................................................................................... 39 Food Sovereignty Banner, Nyéléni World Forum for Food Sovereignty 2007 Credit: Photo Courtesy of Grassroots International Introduction by Anuradha Mittal Chronic hunger affects hundreds of millions of people worldwide but it is most deeply entrenched in Africa. In 2004, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimated that the number of chronically malnourished in the world had increased to 854 million, with the situation in sub-Saharan Africa being the most dire: the absolute number of hungry people increased from 169 million to 212 million. This grave situation was further worsened by an 83 percent increase in global food prices between 2005 and 2008. Pro- visional FAO estimates show that rising prices have plunged an additional 75 million people globally below the hunger threshold, of which 24 million are in sub-Saharan Africa. A crisis of this proportion raises major questions about industrial agriculture and how best to address the needs of the hungry. The global food crisis requires intervention and a paradigm shift that recognizes agriculture as fundamental to the well-being of all people, both in terms of access to safe and nutritious food and as the foundation of healthy com- munities, cultures, and the environment. Unfortunately, the 2008 food crisis—especially the widespread hunger and poverty in Africa—is being used to make the case for addressing hunger by increasing agricultural production through technical solutions such as genetically engineered (GE) crops. Nowhere in the process of crafting solutions are the voices and experiences of Africans, especially African farmers, included. Conveying a False Sense of Need uities, and environmental sustainability. The report high- lighted the lingering doubts and uncertainties surround- In June 2008, the United Nations held a High-Level Con- ing GMOs and held that GM crops are unlikely to play a ference on Food Security that gained much prominence substantial role in addressing the needs of poor farmers, in the midst of the food crisis and became a key venue as the biotechnology industry dominates agricultural re- to promote genetically engineered food as a solution to search and development at the expense of other agricul- world hunger. tural sciences. At a United States-led briefing on the sidelines of the con- Despite the overwhelming opposition to genetic engineer- ference, Ed Schafer, the former U.S. Agriculture Secretary ing and chemical-input based agriculture, the biotech in- under George W. Bush, urged genetically-modified organ- dustry—with assistance from rich donor nations, multilat- isms (GMOs) are key to producing more food by rais- eral institutions, and the philanthropic community—has ing yields and growing disease and pest-resistant crops used the food price crisis to gain support for GM crops. in developing nations. Gaddi Vasquez, the U.S. ambas- The result of the biotech industry’s well-financed publicity sador to the FAO in Rome, also promoted GM crops as blitz based on “green washing” (biotech is environmen- one of the most promising ways to increase crop yields. tally friendly) and “poor washing” (we must accept ge- The Bush Administration even managed to sneak GMOs netic engineering to increase yields to