Farmers in Pakistan protest against Monsanto's GM trials
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- JanforGore
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more from News:
http://www.hungerfreeplanet.org/update-from-actionaid-staff/farmers-i...
This August, Action Aid Pakistan and thousands of farmers mobilized in a series of rallies across the Sindh and Punjab provinces of southern and central Pakistan to voice their concern about the government's decision to allow the Agri Food giant, Monsanto, start BT cotton* trials in the country. The aim is to sell the seeds on a commercial basis the following year.In Pakistan 77 million people do not have enough to eat. Yet the government is actively offering incentives to Multinational Companies (MNCs) to grow these genetically modified crops which, far from uplifting the rural poor, will have devastating effects on both food security and the environment.
Why BT cotton is unsustainable:
•BT Cotton is expensive. The total input cost is higher and recent BT cotton has been proven to have NO increase in yield.
•Many farmers in poor countries are unaware that they can't save genetically modified seed from one harvest to the next. This could jeopardise the rights of 1.4billion people who depend on farm saved seed worldwide. This has led many farmers in to crippling debt.
•It has an adverse effect on land, health, livestock and the environment.
•It needs double the water (and Pakistan is a water stressed country).
•This type of large scale “mono-cropping” stops the century old practice of rotating crops to preserve the resources of the land and, if the crop fails, the results are devastating as farmers have no other crops to rely on.
•Civil society and farmers have been given no say in any part of the monitoring system.
What ActionAid Pakistan are demanding:
•That civil society and farmers be given a voice in the debate about genetically modified crops in Pakistan.
•That BT cotton is banned in order to protect land, livestock, humans and the enviroment.
Background
Many governments and Transnational corporations (such as Monsanto, Cargill, Nestlé, and Wall-Mart) are promoting Genetically Modified (GM) crops as a response to world hunger. However, ActionAid believes this approach seeks only to increase profits for biotech companies and ignores the real causes of hunger.
The real causes of hunger are political and economic: poverty, inequality, and poor access to land, food, markets and resources - GM crops do nothing to address these issues.
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hunzedog
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monsanto wants to starve us ! i watched that movie on monsanto ! everybody who likes to eat food and drink water should see it too.
- 5 months ago
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hunzedog
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samthesixth
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And everyone has something in common with these farmers, it's Monsanto. Push for answers, educate!
Thank you Jan.
- 5 months ago
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samthesixth
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JanforGore
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Now these poor farmers won't get any play in the media because they are not from a well known organization. However, they are part of a worldwide effort that is crucial to the sustainability of this planet. They are standing up like farmers in other countries around the globe to save the biodiversity of Earth for our children. It is unfortunate their courage is not as appreciated as it should be.
- 5 months ago
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JanforGore
