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A very good article, "Shut Up And Eat Your GM Soup, Africans Are Told", by Sam Wainaina, appeared in The East African,  a Nairobi-based paper, a couple of days back. You may have already seen it on the ngin list.

Sam Wainaina had a clear message with regard to GM crop developments targeted at Africa:

"Research agencies working on food productivity in Africa should be reined in and made accountable to parliaments and consumers"

To see the full article go to:
http://allafrica.com/stories/200009070245.html

Unsurprisingly, this article has not proven popular with pro-GM lobby groups who want everyone to believe that Africans are crying out for GM crops and only self-indulgent westerners stand in  their way.

As a result, they are now nitpicking their way through the article [eg Monsanto didn't develop Terminator, Delta and Pine did - so how dare this guy associate Monsanto and Terminator (!!!) etc. etc.], and they are encouraging their supporters to target Sam and the paper "correcting some of their misconceptions".

Those who agree with the general drift of Sam Wainaina's article might therefore care to make their support known to him and the paper. The following contact details have been lifted from the Australian-based pro-corporate 'ECONOMICALLY VIABLE ALTERNATIVE GREENS' who tell their supporters:

Anyone wishing to drop a line to Sam and The East African, correcting some of their misconceptions, may wish to avail themselves of these contact details: The East African (Weekly newspaper providing regional coverage), Nairobi

Editor: Mwangethi Mwangi
P.O. Box 49010, Nairobi, Kenya
(Country code 254) (Area code: 2) 221222; 214531
e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

According to their "Letters" page: The Editor welcomes letters from readers on topical subjects. They will be considered for publication only if they carry the writer's name and city, not necessarily for publication but as a sign of good faith. The paper reserves the right to shorten letters. The original piece ran in the September 4-10 edition in the business section, URL: http://www.nationaudio.com/News/EastAfrican/current/Business/BusinessOpinio n2.html

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For much more on these issues see the 'Feeding the World?' section of the ngin website: http://members.tripod.com/~ngin

"We strongly object that the image of the poor and hungry from our countries is being used by giant multinational corporations to push a technology that is neither safe, environmentally friendly, nor economically beneficial to us." Part of a statment issued by delegates from 22 African countries to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation on the subject of GE in food and farming

"Seeking a technological food fix for world hunger  may be the most commercially malevolent  wild goose chase of the new century." Dr Richard Horton, Editor of The Lancet

"Biotechnology and GM crops are taking us down a dangerous road, creating the classic conditions for hunger, poverty and even famine. Ownership and control concentrated in too few hands and a food supply based on too few varieties of crops planted widely are the worst option for food security." Christian Aid

"History has many records of crimes against humanity, which were also justified by dominant commercial interests and governments of the day... Today, patenting of life forms and the genetic engineering which it stimulates, is being justified on the grounds that it will benefit society, especially the poor, by providing better and more food and medicine. But in fact, by monopolising the 'raw' biological materials, the development of other options is deliberately blocked. Farmers therefore, become totally dependent on the corporations for seeds". Prof. Wangari Mathai of the Green Belt Movement Kenya

"If anyone tells you that GM is going to feed the world, tell them that it is not... " - Steve Smith, head of Novartis Seeds