On August 7th the African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) appealed to South African Agriculture, Water Affairs and Forestry Minister the decision to release Monsanto’s genetically modified maize for sale to farmers in South Africa. The particular variety of seed is supposed to drought tolerant, a claim that ACB disputes. According to ACB, the approval was […]
Tag Archives: AGRA Watch
Report exposes how the food industry is paying to manipulate the media around food
Earlier this summer Friends of the Earth published a report titled “Spinning Food,” which details how the industrial food industry is working to manipulate public opinion and understanding about the food system, and is undermining public knowledge about the benefits of diversified and ecological food systems. The industrial food sector is spending millions of dollars […]
Opposing the G8 “New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition”
In March, a group of social movements, grassroots organizations, and civil society organizations met in Tunis to oppose the G8 “New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition.” The New Alliance, which was launched in 2012 by the G8 and has been implemented in ten African countries, is based on the simplistic and familiar idea that […]
“Profiting from the Climate Crisis”
Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA) is a project financed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, to the tune of US $85 million. The project attempts to increase production of maize in Sub Saharan Africa through the provision of drought resistant maize varieties. The program has two major components: a conventional hybrid maize breeding […]
FOEI: “who benefits from gm crops?”
In February, Friends of the Earth International (FOEI) released a report investigating the strategic efforts by the US government, its sponsored programs, funders such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and agribusiness giants such as Monsanto to force GM technologies on the African continent. While these powerful players claim that GM technologies are key […]
Bill and Melinda Gates Promoting the Use of GM Seeds in Africa
At the end of January, while responding to a question posed at an event in Brussels, the principals of the Gates Foundation promoted the use of GMO seeds to fight malnutrition in Africa. Melinda Gates outlined the success that she believes GMOs can have in overcoming drought, flood, and climate change. Bill Gates followed and […]
Africa-US Summit Report
On March 3rd, AGRA Watch published a full report on the Africa-US Food Sovereignty Strategy Summit, which it hosted last October. The report describes the current and historical context of both US and African agriculture, as summit participants shared in the meetings. It also includes pieces of original research conducted by AGRA Watch on the […]
Human Feeding Trials of GM Banana Delayed
Earlier this month, an article in the Des Moines Register announced the delay of Iowa State University’s human feeding trials of the genetically modified “Super Banana.” AGRA Watch and its partners have consistently raised concerns regarding the development of this GMO. We condemn the feeding trials because the human subjects are unlikely to be aware […]
“US Human Trials of GM banana for Africa Widely Condemned”
Today, AGRA Watch partners, the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa and the US Food Sovereignty Alliance, released a press release discussing their open letter to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Dr. Wendy White from Iowa State University, and the Human Institutional Review Board of Iowa State University. The open letter, which is supported […]
“Don’t Ask How to Feed the 9 Billion”
Mark Bittman, food journalist, author and columnist for The New York Times, recently published an article telling people, “Don’t Ask How to feed the 9 Billion.” Instead he suggests asking, “How can we help end poverty?” because, as Bittman argues, hunger and malnutrition are side effects of poverty and a flawed food system, not of […]