We are either going to have a future where women lead the way to make peace with the Earth, or we are not going to have a human future at all.
–Vandana Shiva, 2003 ‘Environmental Hero’ by TIME Magazine and recipient of the Right Livelihood Award in 1993
Part 2
Last week in this section, I wrote about the countries that were banning GMO and those who were demanding that all GMOP food be labelled as such. Malaysia was troublingly not part of these countries.
Below are excerpts from the position paper by Slow Earth, with resources from ISAAA, Friends of Earth and GM Watch, on why exactly GMO is so detrimental to the environment, farmers and the nation.
“Where they are grown, GM crops occupy large surface areas and are linked to intensive monoculture systems that wipe out other crop and ecosystems.
Most GM crops fall into one of two categories: either engineered to resist chemical herbicides, or engineered to produce insecticides themselves. When herbicides are used on resistant crops, over time the weeds develop resistance, leading to the use of even more chemicals. Crops engineered to produce insecticides on the other hand produce toxins that are not only harmful to pests but other insects such as butterflies, moths and insect pollinators.
GM crops are patented, which allows a few multinational companies such as Monsanto, Bayer, Syngenta, DuPont and Dow to control the entire GM food chain – from research to breeding to commercialization of seeds. The multinational companies that patent and produce GMO seeds control the majority of the seed market and often also produce herbicides and fertilizers. Patenting genetic material has shifted the balance of economic power towards big business in their aggressive pursuit of profit.
GM crops denature the role of farmers, who have always improved and selected their own seeds. GM seeds are owned by multinationals to whom the farmer must turn every new season, because, like all commercial hybrids, second-generation GMOs do not give good results. It is also forbidden for farmers to try to improve the variety without paying expensive royalties.
Farmers risk being sued by big corporations if their crops are accidentally contaminated with patented GM crops. Pollen from crops like oilseed rape is easily spread via wind and insects to neighbouring fields. Hundreds of these farmers in the US have been sued by Monsanto, Syngenta, BASF and DuPont for illegally growing patented crops.
Multinationals promise that GMOs will feed the world, but since they began to be marketed two decades ago, the number of starving people in the world has only grown, just like the profits of the companies that produce the seeds. In countries like Argentina and Brazil, GM soy has swept away energy-providing crops like potatoes, corn, wheat and millet on which the daily diet is based. The majority of GMO crops are not destined to human food, but rather for animal feed, textiles and biofuels. GMOs have not increased productivity: data from the USA’s Department of Agriculture shows that there has been no recorded increase in soya and corn yields since the introduction of GMOs.
Continued industry promises about the ability of GM crops to tackle the world’s growing social problems are a myth: They have reduced biodiversity, polluted landscapes, threatened the future of small-scale farming and reduced the food security of the world’s poorest people. They have not fed the world, but rather concentrated profits and power into the hands of a few ruthless companies. It’s time to stop the big scam.”
Governments all over the world should call out this scam and protect their small farmers and their indigenous seeds.
Vandana Shiva, whom I introduced in last week’s column, is probably GMO’s biggest and most vociferous opponent.
“GMOs are all about appropriating life – owning it and patenting it and the only reason GMOs are being introduced is because huge corporations like those mentioned want to own seeds and collect royalties from it she explains. GMO is a recipe for eco-cide. In India, 284,000 Indian farmers have committed suicide in areas where they grew cotton, because of this push. 95 per cent of that cotton is now genetically modified and owned by Monsanto,’ she says.
She has inspired a movement called Navdanya, women centric and farmer led, to protect native seeds while promoting livelihoods in regenerative agriculture.
So far, 2 million farmers have converted to organic farming in different parts of the country, and the initiative has scaled to 150 community seed banks. The project has conserved 3,000 varieties of rice, 740 varieties of paddy, 215 varieties of wheat, 130 varieties of rajma, 97 varieties of pulses, 58 varieties of spices, 48 varieties of medicinal plants, and 46 varieties of basmati, among many others.
We need to go back to traditional ways of farming. Good for our health, good for Mother Earth.
The views expressed here are those of the columnist and do not necessarily represent the views of New Sarawak Tribune. Feedback can reach the writer at beatrice@ibrasiagroup.com
