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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsGrabbing Africa's Seeds: USAID, EU and Gates Foundation Back Agribusiness Seed Takeover
Grabbing Africa's Seeds: USAID, EU and Gates Foundation Back Agribusiness Seed Takeover
Tuesday, 31 March 2015 00:00 By Stephen Greenberg and Oliver Tickell,
The latest salvo in the battle over Africa's seed systems has been fired with the Gates Foundation and USAID playing puppet-masters to Africa's governments - now meeting in Addis Ababa - as they drive forward corporation-friendly seed regulations that exclude and marginalize the small farmers whose seeds and labour feed the continent.
A battle is currently being waged over Africa's seed systems. After decades of neglect and weak investment in African agriculture, there is renewed interest in funding African agriculture.
These new investments take the form of philanthropic and international development aid as well as private investment funds. They are based on the potentially huge profitability of African agriculture - and seed systems are a key target.
Right now ministers are co-ordinating their next steps at the 34th COMESA (Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa) Intergovernmental Committee meeting that kicked off March 22, in preparation for the main Summit that started yesterday and ends today.
COMESA's key aim is to pave the way for a "Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) in 2017 under the auspices of the African Union" with uniform regulations, including on agricultural products, seeds and GMOs.
A recent meeting on biotechnology and biosafety was held to establish a "COMESA biotechnology and biosafety policy implementation plan" (COMBIP) to roll out from 2015-2019, "leading to increased biotechnology applications and agricultural commodity trade in the region."
But read between the lines and its real purpose was to facilitate the planting and commercialization of GMO crops in Africa all at one go, instead of country by country. USAID Regional representatives for East Africa, based in Nairobi, were present to monitor the process and ensure the desired outcome.
MORE AT:
http://truth-out.org/news/item/29958-grabbing-africa-s-seeds-usaid-eu-and-gates-foundation-back-agribusiness-seed-takeover
jwirr
(39,215 posts)have had only one goal: to move people off their small farms where they could feed themselves and their families into cities where they will work in corporate factories making junk for cheap wages to export. And if they help farming at all it is to grow some crop that will also make money in the export market. None of this is for the people of Africa.
GliderGuider
(21,088 posts)God I hate watching everything fall apart.
jeff47
(26,549 posts)Short version:
Right now, lots of African farmers use seeds from last year's crop to plant this year's crop. The evil people want to set up a system where farmers can buy industrial-scale seeds instead.
Nowhere in the article is there anything that indicates farmers can not keep using seeds from last year's crop. It's kinda hard to be a "takeover" when you don't actually take over. Hell, the article explicitly states that they expect the industrial seeds to cost more, which means formers are going to choose to keep planting seeds from last year's crop.
If anything, the actual content of the article makes it sound like these evil groups are completely wasting their time and money.