Media Advisory
Friends of the Earth International
U.S. SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE TOLD TO
STOP USING HUNGER TO PROMOTE GENETICALLY
MODIFIED CROPS
June 20, 2003 Sacramento, U.S. - More than
100 Agriculture Ministers from over 75
countries, most of them developing countries,
will attend a U.S. government sponsored
Ministerial Conference on Agricultural
Science and Technology from June 23-25, 2003
in Sacramento, California.
The U.S. government and biotech
corporations are strongly promoting
genetically modified (GM) crops as the
primary solution to improving food security
and solving hunger in developing countries.
Friends of the Earth International opposes
the position of President Bush on this issue,
and is calling on all governments attending
the Ministerial to challenge U.S. and
corporate pressure to accept GM food.
In a report presented today at the
Ministerial, Friends of the Earth demanded
that the U.S. stop using hunger as a
political and marketing tool to benefit big
agribusiness. Friends of the Earth
International’s report entitled “
Playing with Hunger
,” exposes the
problems around the shipment of U.S. GM food
aid to developing countries since 2000. It
also shows the hypocrisy behind the
constantly overplayed U.S. Government
argument in recent days that GM crops are
needed to solve hunger in Southern
countries.
Ricardo Navarro, Salvadorean chairman of
Friends of the Earth International said: “GM
crops are not the solution to hunger. If Bush
wanted to tackle hunger in the South he would
be answering the real causes of hunger, like
poverty, debt, lack of infrastructure and
others that make impossible to small farmers
to compete in world markets”.
Controversy over genetically modified food
aid arose in 2000 and grew increasingly in
2002, when several Southern African countries
refused GM food aid during a food crisis and
requested non-modified staples instead.
African countries were presented with a fake
choice: accepting GM crops or face
starvation, even though there was an ample
supply of non-modified crops available.
Several countries – like Mozambique and
Zimbabwe -- rejected GM corn due to
environmental concerns, but accepted milled
GM corn as a compromise.
Only Zambia decided to reject GM corn in
both grain and milled forms, citing health
concerns. Several initial reports coming from
Zambia suggest that the country has so far
been able to cope with the food crisis
without GM food aid.
"Food aid is being used, particularly by
the US, as a marketing tool to capture new
markets. Big agribusinesses are huge
beneficiaries of the current food aid
system,” said Ricardo Navarro.
These views are echoed by the 15-nation
European Union (EU), which is also heavily
criticised by Friends of the Earth
International for its agricultural
policy.
According to a June 17 document of the
EU's executive European Commission:
"biotechnology alone will not be able to
address all the underlying causes of food
insecurity. Low income, poor infrastructures,
lack of access to credit, etc., are all
aspects at the roots of food crisis and can
only be addressed by long term sustainable
development."
In this document, the European Commission
adds: "Some developing countries, including a
large number African countries suffering a
shortage of food, have requested main donors
of food aid to avoid providing GMO food, for
a combination of reasons (…). The EU finds it
unacceptable that the legitimate concerns of
those countries are used by the US as a means
of propaganda against the EU policy on
GMOs."
"Food aid to starving populations should
be about meeting the urgent humanitarian
needs of those who are in need. It should not
be about trying to advance the case for GM
food abroad, or planting GM crops for export,
or indeed finding outlets for domestic
surplus, which is a regrettable aspect of the
US food aid policy." [1]
For more information:
In Sacramento, US, Larry Bohlen, Friends
of the Earth International GMO Programme
Coordinator, tel. +1-202-270-1547
In El Salvador, Ricardo Navarro, Chairman
Friends of the Earth International. Tel:
+503-2200046 or +503-2206480 or email:
NOTES:
[1] the European Commission document is
available here:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/trade/goods/agri/pr170603_en.htm
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