Friday, June 20, 2003
Africans speak for themselves
As the transatlantic dispute over the future of genetically modified (GM) food heats up, African activists say it is time to publicly challenge the image that the Bush administration is presenting on the issue.
Washington, they say, is not entitled to speak on behalf of African states on the matter.
”How can one country decide for another country without taking into account the opinion of the other country's people?” Amadou C. Kanoute, regional director of the African office of Consumers International said at a conference here Tuesday organized by Public Citizen.
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”We do not believe that agro-companies or gene technologies will help our farmers to produce the food that is needed in the 21st century,'' said the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference in a statement. ''On the contrary, we think it will destroy the diversity, the local knowledge and the sustainable agricultural systems that our farmers have developed for millennia and that it will thus undermine our capacity to feed ourselves.”
More here.
posted by chris at 3:35 PM
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