GM 'Assistance' for Africa

Harare, Zimbabwe

In late June, George W. Bush spoke of Africa as a famine-stricken continent where the people are unable to grow enough food for themselves. According to the President, African farmers need biotechnology--and therefore should give a warm welcome to GM (genetically modified) seeds and foods supplied by US agribusiness. (These announcements coincided with the US decision to proceed with a World Trade Organization suit against the European Union on genetically modified foods.)

Bush's assumptions are not accurate. Of course, some Africans are starving and many are chronically poor, sick and hungry. But most Africans manage well in a difficult situation--growing crops that are adapted to their environment, with limited technology. Africans need many things to improve their lives--but biotech agriculture is not one of them. This was the message I delivered on Capitol Hill and elsewhere when I visited the United States recently at the invitation of consumer and environmental groups.

So why is the Bush Administration so keen to push biotechnology into Africa? There are obviously domestic factors (such as agribusiness contributions to US political campaigns) but in Africa we see two principal reasons:

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