"The report fails to take up proven alternatives for developing nations. Sustainable agriculture is the most efficient way forward, one that leaves control in the hands of farmers who need it most" -- OXFAM CANADA
"Oxfam, Greenpeace International, Actionaid, the Intermediate Technology Development Group and more than 290 grassroots groups around the world objected strongly to the report's conclusions." - from today's Guardian
The drop in agricultural funding has been particularly dramatic at ... UNDP and the World Bank
1. OXFAM CRITICIZES UNDP REPORT FOR PRO-BIOTECH BIAS
2. UNDP-World Bank speak with one voice
3. UN OFFICIAL URGES RICH NOT TO BLOCK LIFE-SAVING GM CROPS
4. DEFENCE OF GM FOODS BASED ON 'BAD SCIENCE'
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1. OXFAM AND GREENPEACE CRITICIZE UNDP REPORT FOR PRO-BIOTECH BIAS
July 10, 2001
Oxfam & Greenpeace
The UN's 2001 Human Development Report "Making New Technologies Work For Human Development" presents as facts the unsubstantiated promises of the biotech industry, said the development and environmental groups Oxfam Canada and Greenpeace today. The organizations applauded, however, the UNDP's concern that intellectual property rights codified in the WTO have impeded the transfer of technology to developing countries.
"Biotech will not feed the world" said Joan Summers, Manager of Programmes for Oxfam Canada, a group with more than 40 years experience fighting world hunger. "The report fails to take up proven alternatives for developing nations. Sustainable agriculture is the most efficient way forward, one that leaves control in the hands of farmers who need it most," said Summers.
"These false claims are hype - not hope - and even the developers of these products have acknowledged this fact," said Michael Khoo of Greenpeace.
"Extensive studies show that the best solutions to world hunger are coming from the field, not being hatched in biotech labs." A Greenpeace co-commissioned report of more than 200 projects in developing nations shows that sustainable agriculture offers incredible advantages for the hungry to feed themselves. These projects affect 9 million farmers working on 28 million hectares.
The UNDP report claims that growing concern about biotech in poor countries is a Northern export. "This is an insult not only to hundreds of southern non-governmental groups working on this issue, but also to the majority of Southern governments, who have fought hard against industry and US attempts to prevent an International Biosafety Protocol," said Von Hernandez of Greenpeace in Southeast Asia.
"Of all agencies, the UNDP should know that complex problems of hunger and agricultural development will not be solved by technological 'silver bullets'," Hernandez added. "The real crisis is the obvious neglect of research and investment in sustainable technologies."
The drop in agricultural funding has been particularly dramatic at multilateral institutions like UNDP and the World Bank, with funding falling from $3.5 billion in 1989 to less than $500 million in 1999. The Canadian International Development Agency cut its support to agriculture by 58% over the 1990s.
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2. UNDP-World Bank speak with one voice
from Marcus Williamson
http://www.gmfoodnews.com/
I wondered today why UN staff were making pro-GM statements. Then I looked at the background of the people who have been making them...
Mark Malloch Brown, Administrator, UN World Development Program. Formerly World Bank Vice President for External Affairs and Vice President for United Nations Affairs.
When Malloch Brown left the World Bank in April 1999, the World Bank President, James Wolfensohn, said, ominously :
"I believe that Mark will do a wonderful job as head of the UNDP, and I wish him every success. I am certain that his appointment will further strengthen the partnership between the Bank and the U.N. system."
Sakiko Fukuda-Parr, Director, UN World Development Office.
Formerly worked for the World Bank as Agricultural Economist in the Middle East and North Africa Region.
See the URL here for news from May/June 2000, when the former lead author of the World Development Report, Ravi Kanbur, resigned after being asked to tone down perceived criticism of globalisation :
http://www.brettonwoodsproject.org/update/18/18a.html
Presumably these WDR authors, and former World Bank staff members, are more "in tune" with the wishes of the World Bank, in its moves towardsglobalisation and imposition of GM foods on the world.
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3. UN OFFICIAL URGES RICH NATIONS NOT TO BLOCK LIFE-SAVING MODIFIED CROPS
July 10, 2001
Agence France Presse English
MEXICO CITY - Mark Malloch Brown, the head of the UN Development Programme (UNDP).was cited as telling a news conference in Mexico City after presenting a UN report, that rich countries should put aside their fears of GMOs and not block the development of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) which he said could save the lives of millions who would otherwise die of starvation, adding, "While the risks are as yet unproven, there is a very proven risk from malnutrition: 850 million people in the world go to bed every night hungry. Unproven scientific fears should not lead to the unnecessary loss of tens of millions of lives to hunger," he said.
At a ceremony to present the report, Malloch Brown was further quoted as saying, "it would be wrong for rich Northern consumers, faced with overflowing supermarket shelves, to block development of these technologies that hold so much promise to help feed the poor."
He said there was a huge potential to create more nutritious, drought- and disease-resistant crops, which could also help reverse desertification in many developing countries.
"The developing world has for far too long been victimized by creeping double standard by which rich nations, having benefited from revolutions in pharmaceuticals, agriculture and information and communications technologies, are questioning their utility for the poor," the UN official said.
Malloch Brown was further cited as stressing the report did not suggest glossing over concerns about the potential risks of GMOs, adding, "We are as rigorous as groups such as Greenpeace in saying there must be the highest level of regulation in terms of food safety and environmental protection."
But the environmental group Greenpeace harshly criticized UNDP for promoting GMOs.
Greenpeace Mexico activist Raul Benet, interrupting the formal ceremony, was quoted as saying, "Rather than advocate the export of unsafe and risky genetic technology toward countries of the South, agencies like UNDP should concentrate on promoting and disseminating proven and sustainable methods to improve agricultural practices."
The UNDP report also states that inadequate public funding, market distortions and unfair intellectual property rights deny the benefits of high-tech advances to Third World countries. It called for greater international funding for research and development, and differential pricing of medicines and other high-tech products between rich and poor nations.
Mexican President Fox, who attended the ceremony at the presidential palace in Mexico City, was cited as praising the report, stating, "It invites us to ensure that science, technology and research be available to confront the challenges posed by poverty, marginalization, exclusion and the lack of opportunities."
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4. DEFENCE OF GM FOODS BASED ON 'BAD SCIENCE': GREENPEACE
July 10, 2001
Agence France Presse English
Daniel Lovering [shorterned]
BANGKOK - Greenpeace representative Jan van Aken was cited as saying at the OECD-sponsored forum in the Thai capital that GM foods were not "substantially equivalent" to traditional crops as researchers have claimed and that the safety of genetically modified (GM) food and crops remains unproven and arguments in their defense are based on "bad science," adding that, "The notion of substantial equivalence... is not a scientific principle. If ever there was an example of bad science, it's 'substantial equivalence'."
The three-day Bangkok forum has been boycotted by an environmental alliance led by Greenpeace's regional chapter, Greenpeace Southeast Asia.
Demonstration organiser Athena Ronquillo was quoted as saying, "The local people's message today was that they didn't want to be held hostage by Monsanto and other companies." About 30 protesters, including villagers from Thailand's provinces, dumped garbage bins full of genetically modified papayas, tomatoes and corn on the steps of the UN building.