Please do take the time to read this series of articles from the past year produced by GRAIN (Genetic Resources Action International).Together they help to form a detailed and insightful picture of the external influences which are attempting to drive Africa towards GM acceptance, industry-friendly biosafety laws, and seed dependence on multinational corporations.
The first article, "Groups in Africa, Latin America Condemn World Bank Biosafety Projects" published this week, looks at how World Bank funding is promoting "harmonisation" of biosafety laws at regional level, in order to override national sovereignty in countries which may have doubts about the benefits of GM crops. The strategy is to focus on encouraging a few countries to create policies favourable to GMOs, and to then push these as a regional model through calls for "harmonisation". This may create difficulties for countries who wish to develop biosafety policies according to their own needs, public debate and rights to sovereignty. Regional economic agreements such as WAEMU and ECOWAS may be the route through which one country's laws may be enforced in neighbouring countries.
The World Bank projects also appear to have a deliberate strategy of contamination by targeting crop centres of diversity for GM field trials. Unsurprisingly, participants in the World Bank projects include GM lobby groups such as CropLife, Public Research and Regulation Initiative (PRRI) and AfricaBio.
The second article, "USAID in Africa: for the American Corporations" published in April 2005, describes a separate but connected push for Africa to accept GM by external forces. Through the Programme for Biosafety Systems (PBS), and the Agricultural Biotechnology Support Project (ABSP), both funded by USAID, GM programmes and biosafety legislation that facilitates their entry are promoted at policy level in Africa. PBS promotes the extremely weak US model of GM legislation as the only model appropriate for Africa. This model is at complete odds with the Africa Model Law on Biosafety developed by the African Union, and the UN Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, both of which were developed or influenced by Africans concerned for Africa's interests.
By flooding countries with money and "expert" advice, and holding workshops for policy makers, USAID can take control of official government processes and attempt to direct the agenda.
The third article "Africa's Seed Laws: Red Carpets for Corporations" from July 2005 shows a parallel push by industry at regional level to create the conditions in which GM companies can ensure maximum profit from their patented crops. National legislation that ensures Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) or patents over seed, is necessary for the GM companies so that seed saving is forbidden and farmers obliged to buy new seed each season. Again, this is being promoted through calls for "harmonisation" of seed laws. The Industry's seed agenda is working through regional and international agricultural bodies such as the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA) and various regional economic agreements.
Taken together, these three articles clearly show overlapping and mutually supportive agendas designed to override African sovereignty and facilitate regional acceptance of GM crops. With regional African bodies such as COMESA and ASARECA initiating the Regional Approach to Biotechnology Policy for East and Southern Africa (RABESA) with funding from PBS and USAID, (See Gaia Mailout 8 June 2006), it is important that African countries realise the trends at regional and take steps not to surrender their own national sovereignty.
GRAIN ARTICLES
Groups in Africa, Latin America Condemn World Bank Biosafety Projects. Article from GRAIN, Africa Centre for Biosafety and ETC Group. 26 June, 2006
USAID in Africa: “For the American Corporations” Article from Seedling (GRAIN). April, 2005.
Africa's Seed Laws: Red Carpet for Corporations. Article from Seedling (GRAIN). July 2005.
