Friday 15th October 2004

Article

United Kingdom

This executive summary, written by Helena Paul, EcoNexus, in collaboration with the Gaia Foundation, draws upon a previous case study undertaken by Lilian Joensen and Stella Semino on the impact of GE soya in Argentina.

The summary highlights why Argentina began to grow genetically engineered RR soya and why its cultivation has spread so rapidly to more than 14 million hectares (ha) in 2003-4. It looks at the role that Argentina adopted in the 19th Century as an exporter of raw materials and a target for foreign investment. Other factors touched on include the massive accumulation of debt, economic collapse, financial speculation, capital flight and structural adjustment imposed by the Menem government (1989-99) according to instructions from international financial institutions like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

The consequences of growing RR soya in Argentina include a massive exodus from the countryside as small farmers found they could no longer make a living or were driven off their land. The use of agrochemicals and chemical fertilisers has increased and the aerial spraying of herbicides has led to ecological contamination and health problems. Deforestation is accelerating. New diseases and tolerant weeds have emerged in response to the establishment of GE soya monocultures. Hunger and malnutrition have appeared in a country long accustomed to producing 10 times as much food as the population required.

Now RR soya is being imposed on poor Argentineans as a substitute for meat, milk, eggs, lentils and other traditional products, thus forcing a change in the national diet. Such food projects are often presented as charity and backed by those profiting from soya production. However, the government sees the export of RR soya as a key factor in servicing the country’s massive debt. Argentina is a warning that GE crops are no solution for hunger, debt or agricultural problems. In fact they are a threat to food sovereignty and security and a tool for inducing hunger.

* Click here to view the full case study in Spanish.

Food & Farming