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Genetic Engineering@ (23)

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"To Die or Not to Die: This is the Problem" [PDF]

Author(s): Apel, A.; Conko, G.; Defez, R.; Ederle, D.; Kershen, D.; Morandini, P.; Parrott, W.; Prakash, C. S. Produced by: AgBioWorld Foundation (2002)** Response to the paper 'What is the impact of GMOs on sustainable agriculture in Zambia?' - "The study...shows several inconsistencies and is based on dangerous premises. In fact, study's proposal can jeopardize the lives of the Zambian citizens both on short and long term perspective." (Abstract)

http://www.agbioworld.org/pdf/To_Die_or_not_to_Die.pdf

(Added: Thu Nov 07 2002   Modified: Thu Jun 02 2005   Hits: 267)

'Terminator' GM technology stays banned - for now

Calls for the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) to end its six-year moratorium on the planting of infertile genetically modified (GM) crops have been rejected. Australia, Canada and New Zealand had backed the proposal, arguing that the so-called 'terminator' technology could be used to prevent genes from GM crops getting into non-GM plants growing nearby, thus preventing farmers from growing crops they had not paid for. But opponents of the technology had said that it could make poor farmers in developing countries dependent on multinational companies for seed supplies. Their tradition of sharing seeds to improve crop varieties would also be impossible if they adopted the technology. (SciDevNet, 27 March 2006)

http://www.scidev.net/News/index.cfm?fuseaction=readNews&itemid=2750&language=1

(Added: Tue Apr 04 2006   Hits: 174)

A healthy mix: strategies for GM and non-GM crop coexistence

The coexistence of conventional, organic and genetically modified (GM) crop systems is important for a number of reasons. This kind of system helps in exploiting market opportunities, upholding different cultural values, protecting biodiversity and coping with varying environmental conditions. But there is no easy solution, or widely accepted model, for putting coexistence into practice. Genetically modified crops can be separated from non-GM crops spatially or temporally, and labelling is increasingly seen as essential to protecting consumer choice. But coexistence strategies are still lacking in much of the developing world. Policymakers need to develop rules that are proportionate, efficient, cost-effective and specific to particular crop and farming systems. (Eliana Fontes, SciDev Net, April 2007)

http://www.scidev.net/dossiers/index.cfm?fuseaction=policybrief&dossier=6&policy=137&CFID=44521&CFTOKEN=30219953

(Added: Mon May 21 2007   Hits: 159)

African hunger and GM maize

Author(s): Dickson, D. Produced by: SciDev.Net (2002)**African states should not be ridiculed too hastily for hesitating to accept food containing genetically-modified seeds. But a more rational discourse is needed. At first sight, the initial decision by the leaders of Zimbabwe and Zambia to reject US offers of maize to feed their growing ranks of starving people appears to invite ridicule. Their decision was based on the fact that the food on offer has components that have been genetically modified (GM). But the widely-feared health dangers from consuming such food remain theoretical; not one person is known to have died from doing so. In direct contrast, the imminent starvation faced by 13 million people as a result of a deadly combination of floods and droughts across six states in Southern Africa - Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland and Zambia - is very real. In such circumstances, the reported statement last week-end by President Levy Mwanawasa of Zambia that "we would rather starve than get something toxic" has a ominous echo of earlier remarks by another African leader, Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, about the alleged dangers of widely-accepted drugs used against HIV/AIDS. On closer inspection, however, the decision by Zimbabwe and Zambia begins to lose some of its apparent naivety.

http://www.scidev.net/Editorials/index.cfm?fuseaction=readeditorials&itemid=21&language=1

(Added: Thu Nov 07 2002   Modified: Fri Jan 12 2007   Hits: 345)

AgBioForum

On-line quarterly magazine, AgBioForum, which publishes short, timely, articles on the economics and management of agriculture biotechnology

http://www.agbioforum.missouri.edu

(Added: Wed Oct 27 1999   Modified: Fri Sep 01 2006   Hits: 353)

Agricultural biotechnology and food security: Exploring the debate (PDF)

Author(s): Scoones, I. Produced by: Environment Team, IDS Sussex (2001)**With the dire warnings of prospects of major global food shortages being offered (Brown and Kane, 1995), issues of food security are firmly back on the development agenda. With growing populations and declines in yield growth of basic food crops in the post-Green Revolution era, increasing yield outputs are seen to be an important challenge for agricultural research and development. New biotechnological applications are seen by some as a potential way forward. But others counter this position, pointing to issues of distribution rather than overall availability of food as the key issue, and suggesting other routes for increasing sustainable production of agricultural outputs for poor, food insecure people and regions. This paper aims to explore the various dimensions of the debate, looking at the assumptions of the arguments made by various protagonists and situating historically the contemporary discussion of agricultural biotechnology in broader debates about food security. (Intro) (PDF -165Kb)

http://www.ids.ac.uk/ids/bookshop/wp/wp145.pdf

(Added: Thu Nov 07 2002   Modified: Thu Jun 02 2005   Hits: 349)

Agricultural Biotechnology Factsheet

This Fact Sheet highlights the importance of agricultural biotechnology for gender equality and development. Focusing on genetic modification (GM), it illustrates some of its existing and potential uses in agriculture, explores some of the risks associated with GM, and identifies issues relevant to women's human rights (AWID, September 2004).

http://www.awid.org/publications/primers/agr_bio_en.pdf

(Added: Thu Mar 20 2008   Hits: 136)

Agriculture and food: who benefits from GM crops?

This new report from the environmental organisation Friends of the Earth argues that GM crops are not alleviating hunger and poverty, and are instead used for animal feed, biofuels and highly processed food products for consumption in rich countries.

http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/briefings/who_benefits_summary.pdf

(Added: Tue Feb 26 2008   Hits: 65)

Another silver bullet for Africa?

Two leading US private charitable foundations -- Rockefeller and Gates -- have proclaimed a "new" Green Revolution for Africa. $150 million are to be poured into the continent in the form of new seeds, and in efforts to get small farmers to grow them. Yet none of this is new. It is the same recipe, using the same ingredients, and pushed by the same agency that perpetrated the original Green Revolution starting in the 1950s. It failed in Africa then because it failed to listen to -- failed even to ask -- the indigenous farmers, who had worked their land for generations. There is no reason to suppose that the same technological "fix", reapplied this time by private charities rather than governmental agencies, will work any better now. But there is reason to worry that these and other similar initiatives will further push the privatization of agricultural research and plant breeding in Africa into the hands of a few big corporations. (Grain, September 2006)

http://www.grain.org/articles/?id=19

(Added: Mon Sep 25 2006   Hits: 228)

BENIN: Agricultural techniques adapted to the constraints of HIV/AIDS in Benin

IRIN, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, October 2007. Experiments in new agricultural techniques by a Benin research centre could give a considerable boost to farmers living with HIV/AIDS. The Songha, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) is a centre for training on sustainable farming production, research and development. It is developing inexpensive agricultural production systems based on agrobiology. Its goal is to allow rural African communities to improve their living conditions by using traditional and modern methods of farming and animal breeding, by making the most of local resources and by creating viable agricultural businesses.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75040

(Added: Mon Nov 05 2007   Hits: 57)

Better dead than GM fed?

Produced by: Genetic Resources Action International (GRAIN) (2002)**Article from GRAIN in response to an article by the same title in The Economist magazine of 23 September. "Allowing GM food aid to pollute the core of Africa's crop diversity will undermine the very basis of food security in the region. Food aid to Africa and elsewhere must be GM-free or we run the risk that our generation will ensure that food aid will be needed forever. (Conclusion)

http://www.grain.org/seedling/seed-02-10-6-en.cfm

(Added: Thu Nov 07 2002   Modified: Thu Jun 02 2005   Hits: 363)

Bill Gates' Rescue Package: Flogging a Dead Horse

Bill Gates donation of U.S. $25 million for biofortification - breeding crops with higher levels of micronutrients - is an effort to provide a life-saving shot to the dying family of public-sector international agricultural research institutes. The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), responsible for ushering in the green revolution technology, is now seriously grappling for survival. Faced with huge staff layoffs, drastic cuts in research programmes, declining research output, vanishing financial commitments, the CGIAR is contemplating a series of mergers to stay afloat. Gasping for breadth, the CGIAR is even considering the merger of two of its premier institutes - the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) at Los Banos, in the Philippines, and the International Crop Research Centre for Wheat and Maize (CIMMYT), in Mexico City.

http://www.inmotionmagazine.com/global/devsh2.html

(Added: Thu Nov 06 2003   Modified: Thu Jun 02 2005   Hits: 303)

Biotech Crops and Foods: The Risks and Alternatives

The raging worldwide controversy over genetically engineered (GE) crops and products continues to grow. Proponents claim these novel crops are helping feed the hungry, improve the economic situation of farmers and make agriculture more environmentally sound. But a growing number of critics, which include environmentalists, farmers, intellectuals, indigenous peoples, students, academics, biologists, agronomists and people from all walks of life and from all over the world, hold that genetic engineering presents serious social and ecological questions that the proponents have not addressed adequately. They state that GE crops and foods are not safe, that biotechnology has inherent risks, and that it brings new forms of dependence and domination to farmers and consumers. Furthermore, they claim that GE crops are not necessary at all and that ecologically sound and socially equitable alternatives do exist. (Carmelo Ruiz-Marrero, The Oakland Institute)

http://www.oaklandinstitute.org/?q=node/view/336

(Added: Mon Feb 26 2007   Hits: 113)

Biotech Wars: Food Freedom Vs. Food Slavery / by Vandana Shiva

Monsanto through the U.S. government, is trying desperately to reverse its failing fortunes by creating markets for its genetically engineered crops (GMOs) through coercion and corruption. The E.U. has not yet cleared GM crops for commercial planting or GM food for imports. Brazil has had a ban on GM crops. And India has not cleared GM food crops and has stopped the spread of genetically engineered Bt. Cotton to Northern India after its dismal performance in Southern India in the first season of commercial planting in 2002.

http://www.zmag.org/sustainers/content/2003-06/15shiva.cfm

(Added: Mon Jun 16 2003   Modified: Thu Jun 02 2005   Hits: 289)

Biotechnology and sustainable livelihoods: findings and recommendations of an international consulta

Author(s): Falck-Zepeda, J.; Cohen, J.; Meinzen-Dick, R.; Komen, J. Produced by: International Service for National Agricultural Research (ISNAR) (2002)**There is a pressing need to document both the positive and the negative effects of biotechnology in rural communities. This will be of value in the ongoing debate about biotechnology, and it will provide essential information to policymakers, research managers, elected representatives, and community leaders. To address this need, and to advance thinking on the subject, ISNAR's Biotechnology Service (IBS)4 organized an international consultation5 among research scientists, potential institutional collaborators, the Centers of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), and donor and development agencies in June 2001. This Briefing Paper summarizes the consultation's findings and recommendations. One of the objectives of the consultation was to review opportunities for using broader, multidisciplinary approaches to examine the effects of the adoption of biotechnology in developing countries at the community level.(Intro)

http://www.isnar.cgiar.org/publications/briefing/bp54.htm

(Added: Thu Nov 07 2002   Modified: Thu Jun 02 2005   Hits: 281)

Biotechnology and the Politics of Regulation (PDF)

Author(s): Newell, P. Produced by: Environment Team, IDS Sussex (2001)**This paper is a contribution to a research project on biotechnology and the policy process in developing countries. It aims to provide an overview of the issues, debates and ways of thinking about the regulation of third generation crop biotechnologies. Firstly, it looks at debates about the role and purpose of regulation. Secondly, it examines the different approaches that have been adopted towards the regulation of the products of modern biotechnology. This means, in addition to looking at the peculiarities of regulation in developing country contexts, also looking at developments in countries of the OECD and at the international level, as these often serve to establish the appropriate boundaries for regulation within which the rest of the world has to operate. Finally, the paper explores some of the ways of understanding the policy processes by which regulations develop and are enforced.(Intro) (PDF - 185-Kb)

http://www.ids.ac.uk/ids/bookshop/wp/wp146.pdf

(Added: Thu Nov 07 2002   Modified: Thu Jun 02 2005   Hits: 282)

Director-General urges countries to think carefully before rejecting GM food aid

JOHANNESBURG, 30 August 2002 - Countries in Southern Africa whose populations are facing a devastating drought should carefully consider current scientific knowledge before rejecting food aid containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs), Dr. Jacques Diouf, Director-General of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), said. Addressing a press conference at the World Summit on Sustainable Development, Dr. Diouf said that 13 million people were estimated to be in need of food assistance in coming months to avoid widespread starvation in the region. He noted that there were currently no international agreements in force covering trade and aid involving food containing GMOs (FAO Newsroom)

http://www.fao.org/english/newsroom/news/2002/8844-en.html

(Added: Mon Sep 02 2002   Modified: Thu Jun 02 2005   Hits: 271)

Economic Risks and Opportunities from the Release of Genetically Modified Organisms in New Zealand

This research report was prepared for the Ministry for the Environment and the Treasury by BERL and AERU. It is part of the Government's package of measures in response to the 2001 report of the Royal Commission on Genetic Modification. The research examines the economic risks and opportunities associated with the release of three different types of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in New Zealand, as well as of New Zealand forgoing GMO releases.

http://www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/organisms/economic-impact-apr03/

(Added: Thu Apr 17 2003   Modified: Thu Jun 02 2005   Hits: 260)

Farmers Call for Suspension of Seed Treaty

Governments fail to meet minimal Treaty obligations UN conference told (1 November 2007).

http://www.dev-zone.org/downloads/farmers%20call.doc

(Added: Tue Nov 06 2007   Hits: 71)

Food Patents - Stealing Indigenous Knowledge?

In the area of biotechnology there are further debates and issues on the right to patent living organisms, especially resources and seeds that have been developed or passed on as traditional and public knowledge. This Capitalizing on public knowledge often comes into conflict with indigenous knowledge and the rights of indigenous people, sustainability of local ecosystems, and even the ability of nations to provide food security and protection of the global environment

http://www.globalissues.org/EnvIssues/GEFood/FoodPatents.asp

(Added: Fri Jul 19 2002   Modified: Thu Jun 02 2005   Hits: 284)

From Curitiba to African Farms, spreading biosafety knowledge

From Uganda in the east to Senegal in the west, farmers across Africa have little knowledge about the uses and risks of GM farming. They need to know, because GM crops are seen by some experts as a way out of poverty and hunger. Ebenezer T. Bifubyeka asks African delegates at the Convention on Biological Diversity in Curitiba what they plan to do to spread awareness. (Panos London, April 2006)

http://www.panos.org.uk/newsfeatures/featuredetails.asp?id=1235

(Added: Tue Apr 04 2006   Modified: Thu Jun 01 2006   Hits: 170)

Genetic Engineering of Food Crops for the Third World: An Appropriate Response to Poverty, Hunger an

Article by Peter Rosset. The question addressed in this essay is whether genetically engineered crop varieties can, as industry and mainstream research and policy institutions would suggest, raise the productivity of poor third world farmers, feed the hungry, and reduce poverty?

http://www.foodfirst.org/progs/global/biotech/belgium-gmo.html

(Added: Thu Aug 02 2001   Modified: Thu Jun 02 2005   Hits: 347)

Genetic Resources Action International (GRAIN)

Genetic Resources Action International (GRAIN) is an international non-governmental organisation (NGO) which promotes action against one of the world's most pervasive threats to world food and livelihood security: genetic erosion.

http://www.grain.org/

(Added: Thu Jul 19 2001   Modified: Thu Jun 02 2005   Hits: 351)

Greenpeace GE Free Food Guide 2002

The guide is a database of 1159 food product brands sold in Aotearoa New Zealand. Each has an associated fact sheet with the manufacturer's policy on GE, as well as their contact details. You can either browse through 'virtual' supermarket aisles, use the product keyword search or download a printable version.

http://www.greenpeace.org.nz/truefood/

(Added: Thu May 16 2002   Modified: Thu Jun 02 2005   Hits: 307)

Hi-tech crops 'will not save poor'

With plenty of food available to feed the hungry of the world, claiming that bio-technology or free trade is needed to solve the problem is a deliberate distortion, a distinguished Indian expert told the World Conference on Food and Farming in London. India had 320 million people who went to bed hungry each night, yet India had 65,000 tonnes of food in store, much of which was being exported. The problem was simply that the poor could not afford to buy the food, while India was able to acquire much needed foreign currency by exporting wheat and rice.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/gmdebate/Story/0,2763,846939,00.html

(Added: Fri Oct 31 2003   Modified: Thu Jun 02 2005   Hits: 264)

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