[Dialogue] Emailing: South African Small Farmers Pushed to Plant GM Seed - CommonDreams.org.htm
Harry Wainwright
h-wainwright at charter.net
Tue Jul 22 21:36:27 EDT 2008
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Published on Tuesday, July 22, 2008 by Inter Press Service
<http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=43256>
South African Small Farmers Pushed to Plant GM Seed
by Kristin Palitza
DURBAN, South Africa - Baphethile Mntambo has been farming organically for
the past five years because she knows that avoiding chemicals will in the
long-term benefit her yield. She decided not to plant genetically modified
seeds because she has heard that they cannot be saved for the next season
and will eventually deplete her soil. But she is not entirely sure how and
why. <http://www.commondreams.org/archive/wp-content/photos/0722_03_1.jpg>
0722 03 1
"I have heard about GMO, but I don't understand what it is exactly," she
says. "The only thing I know is that it will cost a lot of money to buy the
seeds, the fertiliser and the pesticides."
Mntambo is one of 50 small-scale farmers in the Valley of a Thousand Hills
in South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal province who have been taught how to farm
organically by non-governmental organisation Valley Trust. The farmers learn
to plant seasonal crops that will provide their families both with food
security and an opportunity to generate income by selling their produce at
local markets.
"We decided to promote organic farming to create sustainability for
small-scale farmers. We believe it is the only way to give them food
sovereignty and stability," explains Valley Trust food security facilitator
Nhlanhla Vezi.
The Valley Trust used to cooperate with the Department of Agriculture,
according to Vezi, but the collaboration ceased when the department started
to put pressure on small-scale farmers to form cooperatives if they wanted
its support. "The Department makes very attractive offers to provide farming
equipment, water piping and seeds, but then uses this as a strategy to push
GMO because of agreements they have signed with multinational GM seed patent
holders," says Vezi.
Rural farmers are often lured into planting GM seeds by the Department of
Agriculture by promises of substantial bank loans and the prospect of huge
earnings, agrees Lesley Liddell, director of Biowatch, an NGO promoting
alternatives to GMO farming by encouraging farmers to inter-crop, use
natural fertilisers and non-chemical crops. "But in the end, most farmers
end up in huge debt, because they can't save seeds and are obliged to buy
the matching GM fertilisers and pesticides."
Yet, small-scale farmers are often so desperate for financial support that
they consider planting GMO crops against better knowledge if they are
offered the seeds for free. "I know that GMO is not good in the long run,
but if someone gave me these seeds I would still plant them," says Tholani
Bhengu, another small-scale farmer who works with the Valley Trust. "For me,
the most important thing is to bring food on the table every week. I can't
afford to think now about what will happen next year."
Because small-scale farmers in rural Africa often have little or no formal
education, they are generally unable to make informed choices around GMO
farming. "We encourage them to attend portfolio committees that discuss GMO
regulations, but the farmers' knowledge is very limited, so it's difficult
for them to contribute. They understand the issues but not the legislation,"
says Liddell.
South Africa is the only country within the Southern African Development
Community (SADC) to grow GM crops - maize, cotton and soya - commercially.
Since 1997, GMO farming is regulated by the Genetically Modified Organisms
Act.
"The adoption of GM crops in SA has increased over the last ten years and
this has also filtered down to small-scale farmers," confirms Priscilla
Sehoole, chief communications officer of the national Department of
Agriculture.
"As with any other technology, there are potential risks associated with GMO
technology and these include those related to human and animal health and
also the environment," she admits. "Therefore, the regulation of all
activities involving GMOs is subjected to a scientific safety assessment
process that evaluates the potential risks."
Seehole says the South African Department of Agriculture would like to
harmonise GMO policies across SADC to "eliminate some of the technical
barriers that (currently) hinder trade in the region."
But anti-GMO activists, such as the African Centre for Biosafety, are
opposed to this approach. "The GM industry is pushing for harmonised
legislation because it will make it easier to commercialise varieties of GM
crops across countries. But those concerned with biosafety very much doubt
if regional harmonisation (of biosafety legislation) would be of advantage,"
says African Centre of Biosafety director Mariam Mayet.
"At the moment, each SADC country has its own policies and all these laws
are very different from each other. This means that each GMO application has
to go through the approval system and public consultation of each country,
which is good for transparency and accountability " she explains.
"When South Africa passed GMO legislation in 1997, most people weren't aware
of how highly contentious the technology would become. But now there is no
way back. Once you're in it, you're in it," says Mayet.
South Africa's food industry is already saturated with GM, she says:
"Everything is contaminated, and to make matters worse, labelling of GM
content is not mandatory. We need serious policy reform and to implement a
testing system that traces which foods contain GMO and which do not."
Over the past decade, South Africa has entered trade agreements with large,
multi-national agricultural biotechnology corporations, such as Monsanto,
which - in an attempt to control the world's agricultural production -
promote the subsidisation of patented GM seeds. Through an incentive system
supporting monocultures, small-scale farmers are systematically integrated
into commercial agriculture, mainly for export, and encouraged to put
together their land.
"It all looks very nice on paper, but it is actually a clever ploy to get
access to people's land. Small-scale farmers who sign up for GM deals
quickly lose control over seed management, production and eventually their
land. This means they lose their food sovereignty," says Mayet. "GMO
marginalises poor, small-scale farmers. We are in for hard times and need to
fight for people's right to land and resources. But we won't give up."
C 2008 Inter Press Service
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11 Comments so far
1.
hemp4victory July 22nd, 2008 10:43 am
Hooking small farmers and businesses to financial materialism is
what the big monied interests rely on time and again. Farmers and small
businesses need to snap out of financial materialism and realize that both
the economy and the environment must be taken seriously as one cannot do
without the other at least for mankind anyway. Instead of getting desperate
on the money, just grow local and learn to share with one another. How hard
is that? And if the corporate interests want to slap frivolous lawsuits for
that, then stand up and make it clear that you won't let those corporate
bullies get in your ways of growing local and sharing with one another.
Problem solved.
2.
Catch July 22nd, 2008 11:09 am
This world would be better, in a lot of ways, if somebody simply
took Monsanto out. They've done far too much damage, in the name of profits,
already.
Finis.
3.
rtdrury July 22nd, 2008 1:12 pm
It should be a crime against humanity that these corporations are
giving out free seed to hook peasants. The seed is protected by an
"intellectual property" apparatus pioneered in the USA of course. The
Contract of Evil ought to be familiar to everyone now. The capitalist evil
offers a stream of technological innovations that steadily boost crop yields
in exchange for monopoly rents. A small fee in perpetuity from millions of
small powerless "customers" really adds up. Patriarchy anyone? No thanks.
Well, have it anyway. No thanks. Shut up and take it. No thanks. If you
don't, you will starve. No thanks. Your neighbors will get ahead, YOU will
fall behind. No thanks.
DEMAND THE CRIMINALIZATION OF EXPLOITATION
DEMAND THE CRIMINALIZATION OF EXPLOITATION
DEMAND THE CRIMINALIZATION OF EXPLOITATION
4.
hazmat July 22nd, 2008 1:25 pm
"he gives the kids free samples
because he knows full well
that todays' young innocent faces
will be tomorrow's clientelle."
-"the old dope peddler," by tom lehrer
5.
rtdrury July 22nd, 2008 2:30 pm
The member states of the Southern African Development Community seem
to be part of a worldwide circle of social democracies and socialist states,
while South Africa remains in a relatively isolated circle of capitalist
extremists along with the USA and a handful of others. It seems the South
African people are culturally split, with natives in the socialist camp and
colonizers in the capitalist camp. The capitalist/socialist culture clash
should be part of the public discussion. The capitalists wish to suppress
the discussion to suppress greater public benefit through socialism.
The optimum benefit for the people is in a mix of cooperative and
competitive marketplace incentives with cooperation in the public space. The
capitalist has no business influencing public policy. This is the charge of
the people. This idea was well-accepted in the Enlightenment, Progressive
and New Deal eras in the US. How about the rest of the world? We also need
to limit wealth accumulation. We actually need very few if any elites
because the class hierarchy intimidates the people and suppresses their
productivity, thereby creating a huge net liability.
The people's potential remains largely untapped, and we prefer
self-determination. The people of the Valley of a Thousand Hills in
KwaZulu-Natal illustrate the possibilities with their embrace of independent
farming practices. So the ideal is probably to limit wealth accumulation and
arenas of competition. Freedom for people, restrictions on elites. Watch the
people flourish.
6.
Nietzsche July 22nd, 2008 3:28 pm
Poverty IS violence when the rich have put in place systems that
make it inevitable. Only a fool believes that the poor will continue to eat
dirt while, next door, he is expanding his portfolio.
That's why they are never next door. Gated communities, offshore
headquarters, wages for Chinese workers that nobody could live on--Everybody
has the right of self defense.
7.
Nietzsche July 22nd, 2008 5:46 pm
Edwin Markham wrote a poem called THE MAN WITH THE HOE. It is worth
looking up if you have missed it. It has been called "The battle cry of the
next thousand years".
That lady in the picture probably has a backache. It's hard to think
when your back hurts. It's probably hard to think after an eighteen hour
shift at Burger King too.
8.
ezeflyer July 22nd, 2008 6:08 pm
Planting marijuana would solve their problems.
9.
lobster <http://NONE> July 22nd, 2008 7:34 pm
We started out talking about GM seeds. Wha' happened?
10.
Chakra Khan July 22nd, 2008 7:36 pm
Meanwhile, It's ConAgra, I believe who is forcing it's seeds onto
Iraqi farmers
11.
smilodon1 July 22nd, 2008 9:18 pm
And you can't save seeds from the current crop to plant next year.
The company who owns the seeds doesn't allow it.
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