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Kenyan small farmers criticize multinationals over GMOs (Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2004 -- CropChoice news) -- The East African Standard (Kenya), 08/23/04: The group representing farmers, pastoralists and the fishermen further
expressed fear that as famine continued, some developed countries offering
food aid might slip into the country the terminator technology seeds that
threaten farmers' ability to save and share indigenous seeds which have
stood the test of time. During a news conference in Thika, national chairman Moses Shaha said GMOs
posed a great danger to food security and other indigenous gene pool because
they were dormant and would mix through cross pollination. This will hand over control of our food system to multi-national companies
who have created these seeds for financial gain increasing costs for farmers
through the use of agrochemicals association with GM crops replacing the
need for farm labour. Shaha said GMOs threatened Kenya's environment as it was contaminative and
unfriendly to bio diversity posing a threat to the existence of indigenous
seeds, organic farming system, human and animal health. Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/200408230733.html The Thika Declaration on GMOs Statement from the Kenya Small Scale Farmers Forum We, the Kenya Small Scale Farmers Forum leaders, representing crop farmers,
pastoralists and fisherfolk, do declare today, August 20th 2004, that
farming is our livelihood and not just a trade. Farming has been passed
down from generation to generation, and is now threatened by Genetically
Modified Organisms (GMOs). GMOs are a danger to food security and our indigenous gene pool. Patented
GMO crops threaten farmers' ability to save and share their indigenous seeds
which have stood the test of time. Thus they will reduce our seed security
and food security, without the long and short term effects on our health
and environment being known. GMOs will hand control of our food systems to
the multinational companies, who have created these seeds for financial
gain, and not for our need. These new seeds may create conflict between farmers due to the risks of
cross pollination from GMO to non GMO crops leading to contamination between
farms. GMOs will increase costs for farmers. This new kind of agriculture has been
produced using a complicated and expensive process called genetic
engineering. To make their profits back from the farmers, the companies
patent the GMO seeds, which leads to higher costs for farmers, who are then
forbidden from saving and sharing their seeds for planting the following
season. If the seeds fail, farmers are left in great destitution. The
agrochemicals associated with GM crops will oblige farmers to pay the high prices set by the companies, and replace the need for paid farm labour, thereby threatening our livelihoods. GMOs threaten Kenya?s environment. A clean environment is a fundamental
right for all. GMOs on the contrary are contaminative, unfriendly to our
biodiversity, and pose a threat to the existence of our indigenous seeds, to
organic farming systems, and to human and animal health in general. Our government is being arm-twisted to accept GMOs by multinationals, without considering the effects on small scale farmers. Small scale farmers in Kenya should be included in policy formulation on
agriculture research and food security. Government should invest in irrigation, improvement of infrastructure, appropriate technologies,
marketing, subsidies, credit, farm inputs and better rangeland management, and NOT ON GMOs. We believe that God created life, and no one can own it, not even Monsanto,
Syngenta or other multinational companies. We therefore reject all GMOs in
agriculture, and call upon the Kenyan government to respect our indigenous
expertise. Therefore to be able to fully understand the effects of GMOs on
our livelihoods, health and environment, we demand a twenty-year moratorium
on GMOs in Kenya. | |
