GM CROPS ON TRIAL IN AFRICA

http://www.iied.org/mediaroom/releases/250106.html
From the International Institute for Environment & Development (IIED)
MEDIA RELEASE
Wednesday 25 January 2006

Ordinary cotton-growers and other farmers in Mali, West Africa, will this week decide whether GM technology is the way forward for the world's fourth poorest country. A "citizens' jury" will cross-examine international experts, representing a broad spectrum of views on this controversial issue, before reaching its decision.

The event starts on Wednesday 25 January with three days of witness testimony, after which the jury, made up of 43 small farmers and medium-size producers, will deliberate and deliver their verdict on Sunday 29 January. It will take place in Sikasso in southern Mali where two-thirds of the country’s cotton is produced.

The jury will question a wide range of agricultural specialists including farmers from other poor countries who have first-hand experience of growing GM crops. Though the jurors' decision is not binding, it is expected to influence the future direction of agricultural policy in Mali and across the region where most people rely on subsistence farming.

Mali is the largest producer of cotton in sub-Saharan Africa, largely grown by smallholder farmers whose livelihoods depend on it. At stake is whether farmers should swap traditional seeds for those that have been genetically modified and patented by corporations, which would mark a dramatic break with current agricultural practice.

African countries are under increasing pressure from agribusiness to open their markets to GM crops and industrialise their farming sector, but the continent remains divided in its response. South Africa and Mali's neighbour Burkina Faso have allowed the introduction of GM, but Benin has said no.

To ensure a fair process, the citizens' jury has been designed and facilitated by the London-based International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and RIBios, the University of Geneva's Biosafety Interdisciplinary Network, together with a wide range of local partners in Mali.

IIED's Dr Michel Pimbert said: "This initiative is about making the agriculture agenda more directly responsive to African people's priorities and choices. It is vital that we redress the current democratic deficit in which governments and big agri-food corporations have far more say than farmers and other citizens about how land is used, and what crops are grown. We must all recognise that local people have the right to decide the food and farming policies they want. This citizens' jury creates a space for farmers to reach an informed, evidence-based view on this complicated and often controversial issue, which can then be amplified to policy-makers."

Ends.

For further information, to arrange interviews or attend the event, contact:
Tony Samphier on +44 208 671 2911
Liz Carlile on +44 207 388 2117

Notes to editors

The International Institute for Environment & Development (IIED) is a London-based think tank working for global policy solutions rooted in the reality of local people at the frontline of sustainable development. www.iied.org