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GM crops of no benefit to poor, says ActionAid
dmandl submits:
GM crops of no benefit to poor, says ActionAid
Paul Brown, environment correspondent
Wednesday May 28, 2003
The Guardian
Widespread adoption of GM crops would not help feed the world as their promoters claim, according to ActionAid.
So great are the dangers that GM crops will worsen the plight of the 800 million hungry people in the world that there should be a moratorium until more research is done, it says in a report published today.
"Instead of focusing on risky technologies that have no track record in addressing hunger" policy should be directed to giving poor people land, credit, resources, and markets so they can feed themselves and sell their surplus crops.
After research in four continents among nine million farmers, ActionAid concludes that GM crops are more likely to benefit rich corporations than poor people.
Only 1% of GM research is aimed at crops used by poor farmers in poor countries. It can cost up to £200m and 12 years to develop a GM crop, and that cost has to be recouped by selling to farmers who can pay for it.
"It is not the interests of poor farmers but the profits of the agrochemical industry that have been the driving force behind the emergence of GM agriculture. Four multinationals - Monsanto, Syngenta, Bayer CropScience, and Dupont - now control most of the GM seed market. About 91% of all GM crops grown in the world are from Monsanto seeds."
The report says corporations extend their markets by linking herbicides and pesticides to the GM seeds they sell. But yields are no greater and in some cases more chemicals are needed, while the much higher costs could drive poor farmers into debt.
"
dmandl submits:
GM crops of no benefit to poor, says ActionAid
Paul Brown, environment correspondent
Wednesday May 28, 2003
The Guardian
Widespread adoption of GM crops would not help feed the world as their promoters claim, according to ActionAid.
So great are the dangers that GM crops will worsen the plight of the 800 million hungry people in the world that there should be a moratorium until more research is done, it says in a report published today.
"Instead of focusing on risky technologies that have no track record in addressing hunger" policy should be directed to giving poor people land, credit, resources, and markets so they can feed themselves and sell their surplus crops.
After research in four continents among nine million farmers, ActionAid concludes that GM crops are more likely to benefit rich corporations than poor people.
Only 1% of GM research is aimed at crops used by poor farmers in poor countries. It can cost up to £200m and 12 years to develop a GM crop, and that cost has to be recouped by selling to farmers who can pay for it.
"It is not the interests of poor farmers but the profits of the agrochemical industry that have been the driving force behind the emergence of GM agriculture. Four multinationals - Monsanto, Syngenta, Bayer CropScience, and Dupont - now control most of the GM seed market. About 91% of all GM crops grown in the world are from Monsanto seeds."
The report says corporations extend their markets by linking herbicides and pesticides to the GM seeds they sell. But yields are no greater and in some cases more chemicals are needed, while the much higher costs could drive poor farmers into debt.
"