Starving Can Be Fed Without GM

Archived

Sunday, 24 November 2002

The following is just a small extract from a fascinating article by George Monbiot which appeared in The Guardian last week. As well as examining the US aid issue, he tells of some of the covert publicity tactics undertaken by the GM companies.

To read the article in full go to www.monbiot.com

Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi, all of which are suffering from the current famine, have been told by the US international development agency, USAID, that there is no option but to make use of GM crops from the United States. This is simply untrue. Between now and March, the region will need up to two million tonnes of emergency food aid in the form of grain. The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation has revealed that there is 1.16m tonnes of exportable maize in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and South Africa. Europe, Brazil, India and China have surpluses and stockpiles running into many tens of millions of tonnes. Even in the US, over 50% of the harvest has been kept GM-free. All the starving in southern Africa, Ethiopia and the world's other hungry regions could be fed without the use of a single genetically modified grain.