Malian President Amadou Toumani Toure, one of four heads of state at the US-sponsored conference: "Our obligation is to our people, to provide them not only with food security but also food safety. We should not stand firm in the face of agricultural innovation, but we should also take all precautions to minimize the risk."

A Burkina-based group of anti-GMO organizations was quoted as saying in a statement that, "Faced with the dangers that GMOs represent for our health, our land and future generations, we cannot in good conscience move forward without a clear understanding of its consequences for health of humans, animals and plants. Relying on genetically-modified foods is only a short-term solution that will, in the long run, only breed dependence on multinational corporations."
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Food safety key to food security, west Africa says after US makes GMO pitch
Agence France Presse, June 21, 2004
Boureima Hama [via Agnet]

OUAGADOUGOU - West African heads of state meeting Monday in Burkina Faso were cited as saying they were interested in genetically-modified organisms as a way to boost food production at home but were waiting for proof there was no risk to their people or the environment.

Malian President Amadou Toumani Toure, one of four heads of state at the US-sponsored conference, was quoted as saying, "Our obligation is to our people, to provide them not only with food security but also food safety. We should not stand firm in the face of agricultural innovation, but we should also take all precautions to minimize the risk."

The story goes on to say that landlocked Burkina Faso has made the first west African foray into the world of GMO crops, allowing agribusiness giant Monsanto to plant transgenic cotton seeds in key areas.

Niger, which is hoping that a new national effort to increase cotton production will eradicate the crushing poverty afflicting half of its 10 million people, is keenly interested in Burkina's transgenic success, with President Mamadou Tandja quoted as saying, "But it seems fundamental that (biotechnology) should be studied in minute detail, to ensure we are fully aware of the environmental, economic and social impacts of this revolutionary but still-unknown innovation."

A Burkina-based group of anti-GMO organizations was quoted as saying in a statement that, "Faced with the dangers that GMOs represent for our health, our land and future generations, we cannot in good conscience move forward without a clear understanding of its consequences for health of humans, animals and plants. Relying on genetically-modified foods is only a short-term solution that will, in the long run, only breed dependence on multinational corporations."

In a keynote address, the deputy US minister of agriculture John Penn was cited as moving to reassure the 400 ECOWAS delegates that Africa will not be left behind in the race towards more efficient and better agricultural production, promising technology transfer and research money for African food scientists.