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Gates-Backed AGRA Report: GMO Controversy Is Fear Of The Unknown

Gates-Backed AGRA Report: GMO Controversy Is Fear Of The Unknown

The Gates Foundation-backed Alliance for a Green Revolution released a 200-page report today that said growing public opposition to genetically modified crops in Africa is best characterized as “fear of the unknown.”

The report, “The Farce about Genetically Modified Crops,” was critical of those opposed to using genetically modified crops to grow more food in Africa.

Excerpts of the report were published in a report in AllAfrica.

The Alliance for a Green Revolution, or AGRA, was founded in 2006 through a partnership between the Rockefeller and the Bill & Melinda Gates foundations. Its goal is to help smallholder farmers increase food production in Africa. It works to “concentrate investment in the breadbasket regions of four main countries -Ghana, Mali, Mozambique and Tanzania – in order to achieve breakthrough agricultural production.”

The introduction of genetically modified (GMO) crops has attracted debate among seed companies, policy makers, and the general public in Africa, the report said. GMO crops have undergone more testing worldwide than any other new crops, and have been declared as safe as conventionally bred crops by scientific and food safety authorities worldwide, it said. The report cites studies and endorsements of GMO safety by organizations such as World Health Organization, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and the European Food Safety Authority.

Herbicide tolerance, insect resistance, and nutritional enhancement are some of the beneficial traits in GMO crops, and they are being grown in 20 developing countries and eight industrial countries, the report said. However, low adoption by smallholder farmers in most of Africa makes it unlikely GMOs will impact Africa food security in the near future.

Controversy has marred adoption of GMOs in Africa, the report said. Only four African countries – Burkina Faso, Egypt, Sudan, and South Africa – have fully commercialized GMO crops. However, most African countries are at various stages of creating enabling environments for GMO crop commercialization. Five countries – Cameroon, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria and Uganda – are conducting field trials of biotech crops, the final step before full approval for commercialization.

GMO imports are banned (unless milled) in Angola, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

These bans signal the arbitrariness and unpredictability of public policy, the report said.

AGRA says its programs develop practical solutions to significantly boost farm productivity and incomes for the poor while safeguarding the environment across all key aspects of the African agricultural ‘value chain’ – from seeds, soil health, and water to markets and agricultural education.