Curiously, the very same group - Young Volunteers for the Environment, Togo - that in the press release below express their concern at "the false promises of Biotech Industries", were recently listed among those supporting the FAO's promotion of GMOs!

Sena Alouka, their Executive Director and Cultural Biodiversity Campaign Coordinator says that their name should never have been included.

This is not the only questionable example of such support. The Sindh Rural Women's Up-lift Group in Pakistan was the one apparently genuine Third World civil society group which signed on to the "NGO" letter organised by CS Prakash in support of the FAO's recent pro-GM stance, although there were a number of far right groups like Barun Mitra's Liberty Institute which signed Prakash's letter.

We asked the Group's President, Farzana Panhwar, about this. She had previously sent us a paper about biotechnology which expressed some caution on the subject, not least about the issue of corporate control. CS Prakash had rather harshly criticised the paper when he posted it on his list, saying it sang along to "the acopalyptic tunes of socialism" and suggesting Mrs Panhwar should undergo "a compulsory reading" of the free market economist FA Hayek's The Road To Serfdom "as a beginning therapy".

From her subsequent support for Prakash's FAO letter, and from a new paper she had written - The use of biotechnology in Sindh, Pakistan to improve Agriculture, its growth and bring Sustainable Development in the country - it seemed that Mrs Panhwar might have indeed undergone Prakash's prescribed course of re-education.

In reply to our enquiry, however, Farzana Panhwar told us, "I am completely against GM techology" but that her Group got no support for organic agriculture, which they also practiced, and that they needed means to improve agricultural production.

There is certainly money and support for GM crops, which remain a gigantic and wasteful distraction from the real task of assisting the poor and hungry - something Togo's biggest youth NGO make very clear below.

For more on CS Prakash
http://www.gmwatch.org/profile1.asp?PrId=106
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Press Release on World Food Day
Young Volunteers for the Environment, Togo
17 Oct 2004

The Togolese Youth express its concern on the false promises of Biotech Industries in solving hunger or reducing poverty!

This afternoon, UN representations and the Togolese government celebrated the world food day. The attendance was surprisingly highly political and diplomatic.

On this occasion, the 8th Telefood programme was unveiled and 13 micro-projects received some small grants.

It was this 'appropriate' atmosphere that we choosed to distribute our press release whereby we state our concern over the hostage operated by biotech industry on the african genetic heritage.

This time, it is the youth who express their views on the current trend in agricultural policies.

The paper stresses on the risks associated to genetic engineering. We clearly showed that biotech companies can not solve the hunger problem of the world. Hunger and poverty stem from social imbalance than access to magic seeds.

As 72,2% of the togolose population is reported to be poor, a third of the population lives in food insecurity and more than 48% of babies are malnourished.

As the Togo Follow up to the UN MDG says, this situation 'is a result of non-availability and instability of access to food rather than its availability.'

We are afraid to hear that UN and even the Vatican are failing to be on the side of peasants and consumers.

Why, we call upon the togolese government to quickly adopt the National Biosafety Framework and establish the necessary institutions for its implementation.

As leaders of today and tomorrow, every one should resist the influence of international agro-business companies which has no genuine interest in feeding the world poor!

The press release is pasted below! If u do not read french you can easily e-translate it.

Thanks for helping us in this historical step! In the current situation, we doubt what might happen tomorrow, but we are happy for having sent this message to the FAO, UNDP, UN Information Center, the minister of environment, agriculture and dozens of news agencies.

If you are interested to asist us in th nation-wide campaign we are starting very soon, please get back to us!

For your information, the Young Volunteers for the Environment are the biggest youth NGO ever in the subregion and have local branches in more than 27 cities throughout the country with a membership of 700 as of dec 2003. The NGO is participating from the 21st october to the Social Forum of Benin and from the 26th November to the West African Social Forum in Conakry, Guinnea.

Another world is not only possible but at hand!

Sena ALOUKA
Executive Director
Cultural Biodiversity Campaign Coordinator
Box: 80470
Tel:228-2200112/ 2206490
Mobile: 228-9216740
Lome
Togo (W/A)