- Critics say the use of GMO puts farmers at the mercy of corporate power & risks contaminating organic crops
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service in Addis Ababa lauds Ethiopia’s approval of commercial cultivation of the controversial genetically modified organisms (GMOs), according to a new report it published.
In a report published by the USDA on February 5, 2020, prepared by Abu Tefera, agricultural specialist of the USDA, and approved by Rachel Bickford, foreign service personnel, the Ethiopian government’s “approval of commercial cultivation of genetically engineered cotton and confined field trial on GE maize can be taken as an effort of the government to improve agricultural productivity using modern agricultural tools,” it said. The report went on to state that the country’s adoption of Bt-cotton not only holds important economic importance but is also expected to have a positive influence on the acceptance of this technology in the region. “Especially considering that a decade ago the country was at the forefront of the anti-GMO movement in Africa,” it said.
For many years, Ethiopia has resisted the use of genetically modified seeds, which are often adulterated by pesticides, touted as a means to boost agriculture security by lobbyists. However, this has been relaxed in recent years, with the country moving to approve the commercial cultivation of genetically modified insect-resistant BT cotton and field research on GM maize.
The USDA’s report expresses its delight in the interest shown by the government, “from the Prime Minister’s office on down,” in what it describes as “in commercializing agricultural biotechnology as a tool to achieve food security in the country, it said.
To show the government’s growing commitment to GMOs, the report cited the move to authorize a five-year permit to conduct confined field trials on drought-tolerant and pest-resistant WEMA-TELA Maize, developed under the philanthropic Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA) project in partnership with the African Agricultural Technology Foundation. “The WEMA-TELA Maize trials have been successfully conducted in 2019 by the Ethiopian Institute for Agricultural Research. The second trial will start up in November during the dry season using a controlled drip irrigation system,” the report reads. Another GM crop approved for a confined field trial is, disease-resistant Enset (Ensete ventricosum), according to the report. Enset, commonly called “false banana” is a native crop and belongs to the earliest plants domesticated in Ethiopia.
The US government has been promoting the interests of the biotechnology industry for several years. When Corteva Agriscience, the agriculture division of the American brand DowDuPont, one of the world’s largest GMO seed companies, opened its office in Addis Ababa in mid-April, 2019, the American Ambassador in Addis Ababa described it as a part of “the U.S Government’s ongoing investments in Ethiopia’s agricultural capacity,”
The condescending attitude towards smallholder farmers
Though certain experts and scientists have long been optimistic about the possible application of GM crops to overcome agricultural and food crises in Africa, there have been serious concerns about the application and the whole top-down approach. Teshome Hunduma, who is currently doing research on seed system development at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, says that agricultural and food crises that occur in the country are not only the result of a lack of use of agricultural technologies, but it is rather the product of “the top-down, dogmatic attitude, uncritical faith in techno-scientific solutions, and the condescending attitude towards smallholder farmers that is rampant throughout the formal agricultural institutions”.
Teshome recalls the imperial monopolistic use of agricultural technologies and exploitation of peasants pre-1975, focus on inefficient and ineffective state farms and marginalization of peasants between 1975 and 1991, and continued state ownership of land and top-down agricultural development policies from 1991 until now. He said: “This experience from the past and recent political changes in the Ethiopian agricultural system shows the exclusion of the poor from the use of agricultural technologies and an increasing gap between rich and poor, not equitability.” The use of GMO seeds yokes farmers to corporate power, requiring ongoing purchases from multinational companies that would have control over the technology through intellectual property rights, experts say. While the companies enjoy exclusive rights to commercialize their technologies, they have less accountability for GMO contamination of farmers’ indigenous crops, according to the argument. Almost 400 cases of contamination occurred between 1997 and 2013 in 63 countries, according to the International Journal of Food Contamination.
Image: Atekelt Tera, Ethiopia’s largest vegetable market. Photo- Ethiopia Observer
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This is a loss. Our agronomics lacks best practices and inputs with equal access not GMO. When the rest of the world is avoiding it – why Ethiopia ?
Things go wrong for humanity when people go against nature and God. It is shocking to hear that some do think that adopting GMO technology is some sort of advancement :-(…
Thanks for sharing, Alazar. I’m keen to hear how we people ‘think’.
Legeberewe nigerewe
Seeds of conflict: How US companies became the enemies of traditional Indian agriculture
https://www.rt.com/news/459093-india-agriculture-corporations-farmers/
Who is “the rest of the world?”
And as for “why Ethiopia?” I would say finally #Ethiopia woke up to see the advantages that #biotechnology could offer and have acknowledged we have many brilliant minds that can turn things around with out crossing the ocean.
You need to open your eyes madam, there is a reason why GMO is banned in Europe and why organic food is more expensive. Its not a rocket science. I’d agree if only used on cotton but maize for human consumption, hell NO. OPEN your eyes, not everything that comes from the west is the best. Jesus!
Completely agreed my dear. For United state and some European, Africa is a lab rat! Wake up people ! Even the seed of cotton is used for food oil. That will be consumed by many!
pls consider the last court,by that time every one will get its own work result and it will be crying ,but no value
I agreed that’s true !!
we are very sorry about the stupidity of Ethiopian Government !
The Abiy Ahemed administration is really betrayed our peoples right !!
Currently, I am researching a project “transcriptome sequencing of crop plant under pathogen treatment” to discover and analyze genes associated with disease resistance. Discovering these genes will be important for transferring to the high yielding susceptible crops through crossing(naturally) or through Genetic engineering techniques.
Let me come to the point here, Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) is considered as a solution to food shortage, the scarcity of environmental resources and weeds and pests infestation. For instance, there is an important gene which is naturally found in bacterial species Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) genome which encodes for a toxic protein (toxic to some insect (caterpillar) when eaten). The caterpillar insect is a major insect treat for maize plants and a reason for huge yield loss in maize productivity. Therefore, scientists, take the gene encoding for toxic protein from the Bacillus thuringiensis and incorporated it into the genome of the maize plants through techniques of Genetic engineering or other mechanical techniques. The caterpillar eating maize containing the Bt gene in their genome could be killed because of this toxic protein produced by the transgenic maize plant. The proteins are not toxic to humans, like all mammals. Research indicated that the target organism for the protein is only caterpillar insect. The farmers are benefited from GM maize that, dependency on insecticide for controlling caterpillar alleviated. However, there is fear that genetically modified food introduces new risks to food security, the environment and human health such as loss of biodiversity; the emergence of superweeds and super pests; the increase of antibiotic resistance, food allergies, and other unintended effects. Hence, risk analysis and regulatory mechanisms, if released to the ecosystem should be set out to mitigate the possible effect coming from GMOs. As well a confined field trial should be done before it will be released to the environment in Ethiopia. Every technology has its own pros and cons. Moreover, whether we like or not, naturally, the evolution of genes is occurring and going on, but what bio-technologists did were to get it faster the steps involved than it would appear naturally. Let’s enjoy GM crops for the development of our farmer productivity than opposing it!
With regards!
It is unfortunate to hear form anyone who said to have a knowledge of gens and evolution. Do you know why most of the population in the Western world have high rate of cancer? You said no side effect on humans and any animals. Are you sure?. why consumers in US and Europe are looking to a food label to make sure that the product is Non-GMO before they are putting on their shopping carts? Do you know what the long term of Cargill and Monsanto towards the monopoly of global grain production? Please OPEN your eyes!
Legeberewe nigerewe
Seeds of conflict: How US companies became the enemies of traditional Indian agriculture
https://www.rt.com/news/459093-india-agriculture-corporations-farmers/
So you think consuming GMO food is a step foreward while the developed nations are trying to avoid just that? You need to wake up.
Nardos, really???
Where did u get ur expertise about GMO’s? From the Dollar?. Think & research, u will find some useful ideas to why it is abandoned in many developed countries.
By God what a danger to the health of all Ethiopians.GMO is completely banned in Europe that it is proven to cause cancer.Moreover Monsanto the company that produce the pesticide “roundup” that causes cancer was found guilty recently for causing cancer to a person and the jury fined the company guilty and awarded that person $280,000,000. All GMO plants including corn must use the pesticide “roundup” to grow.This is the biggest danger that the U S is forcing African countries to use in order to make their billions selling dangerous chemicals.One have to understand an Africans much less than their house pets.Please check some books or google Dr. Vandana Chiva and see her struggle against GMOs in India and how many farmers committed suicide.Once one buys GMO seeds you are slave to supplier of the seed since you cannot replant
your harvest.It is engineered to grow only one time.
First tobacco, now GMO’s.
De rest of the world does not want
it so let’s push it on poor Africa.
10 Years ago no one smoked in Ethiopia. Look now. Why does parlement allow it ? For scientific reasons or another ? (The allmighty $).
Then again, all these small farms are not efficiently going to feed 100 million and more hungry Ethiopians. What is wisdom ? Whom can you trust ?
If you buy seeds from ruthless companies as Monsanto and Du Pont then you have written your death warrant. The irresponsible gov’t of Abiy Ahmed is selling Ethiopia to corporate America. To me GMO’s are a red line. If you control what people eat you control them totally!
We should react to this!
Thanks Wesson. You are very right. I am the one who is checking a label on any food item I am buying to make sure that it’s not GMO.
The Ethiopian Prime Minister is a very well read intelligent person.How did he fall to this trap. Please people make a lot of noise and stop this madness . Where is professor AL Mariam?
God bless you Wossen. Be the voice for voiceless. What happend to those who told us all the goodies ‘ go organic ‘.
I hope their findings was correct,unless we are sold for ….
Contrary to the belief that his fake purchased PHD is a real, the Prime minister is not well read or educated person , instead he is just like anybody else in the party love to pretend as if he knows something by mentioning a highlighted phrases from only patches like Wikipedia just to empress others, so coming back to the GMO food he allowed the to be poisoned with is 100% consistent with his tyrannical regime that holding power in the grip for about 30 years, undemocratic, repressive, unelected, and a mercenary force operating in the contrary by foreign powers full support, so being rewarded Nobel Prize for no reason, this should not come to nobody’s surprise if he paying back his sponsors by allowing GMO foods in to Ethiopian agriculture and food supply system.
I think your discourse is like symphating for the former state leaders the TPLF, now the country is on the point of no return. Please accept the change and the change agents. You complaing against the PM for allowing GMO reminded me where were you the former PM Melese was recieving award for small scale water collection plastic sheet poly ethyl purchase in bulck which was found useless.
Hi…I don’t want to compare Abiy and Meles…although Meles has his own limitation, he was the voice of Africa when it comes to such kind of western systematic colonization.
From the way he speaks,I am not sure if our current PM is well educated. There are many advisors around him who are paid in USD. Although I m happy in many of the changes he is bringing, The advisors are leading him in the wrong direction. Unfortunately he seems to believe whatever they tell him.
I have seen documentaries where Montasol makes lots of money by selling the corn seeds. The seeds are patented. Which means at any time the US can twist the hands of Ethiopia because of debt. Aside from that, In the documentary I saw the side effect of the seed which is related to cancer.
In Europe.GMO foods are not allowed. Ethiopia has been the leader of Africa when it comes the GMO. so we have now started go become puppets of the US.
Anyhow ..may be this is one of Trump’s deal with Abiy.
Ethio is not lead for Africa GMO, make review pls
Legeberewe nigerewe
Seeds of conflict: How US companies became the enemies of traditional Indian agriculture
https://www.rt.com/news/459093-india-agriculture-corporations-farmers/
This is a wrong move! This is the agenda of depopulating the world nation. If we could consume the GMO food our life span will be short then they will come and takeover of our land after they realized that we are no longer protect ourselves!
This is nonsense!
This is completely unacceptable. and insane. The Ethiopian farmers don’t need GMO they need well resources. GMO is the most dangerous practicing in world .it causes a lot of health complications especially country like Ethiopia which don’t have enough healthcare infrastructure. Don’t foget that its a longrun process . It can affect a generation life. Ingeneral its a toxic.do a little research about it.
Please don’t aloud GMO in Ethiopia! That will destroy your country!
I would like to applaud Wossen for his presise explanation why we do not need GMO.
Can some one (a famous activist) start a petition to stop this deadly and monopolistic business deal.
That will be a good idea.
I agree. Stop introduction of GMOs in my Ethiopia, your Ethiopia, our Ethiopia!
This will be a historical error. This generation of leaders will go down in history as unpatriotic if this is not reversed.
GMO doesn’t increase productivity. If it incrraees productivity, it’s with the expense of nutrition. It increases the size of friit or vegetable, but it diminishes the nutrition. What is the point of eating large quantity if it doesn’t nourish the body? It is simply food colonization. They control the food and they control the body. We have ignorant leaders who are looking for easy and quick fix. At the end, we will lose
We need to study first why some nations banned or restricted it before adopting and deciding on behalf of others.
DowDuPont and Monsanto are the leading and largest seed company with sales of more than 20 billion dollars per year profit annually combined. These two companies especially Monsanto is not without controversy with its round-up ready herbicides(Glyphosphate causing cancer and its genetically modified seeds to be toxic and dangerous to human health. Those genetically modified crops have many critics. The critics believe that modifying naturally grown plants we eat could result in negative health consequences. Many skeptics see biotech crops as unnatural, with the Monsanto scientist essentially “playing God. By controlling what goes in the seed. Even Prince Charles, a longtime supporter of organic farming, wrote a newspaper editorial opining that genetic engineering “takes mankind into realms that belong to God, and to God alone.”
However, Abiy’s decision to bring GMO to Ethiopia might have some merits. For a populous country like Ethiopia where the farmers are dependent on seasonal rain which is unpredictable and unreliable has, in turn, exposed the farmers for repetitive starvation. On top of this, there is no adequate family panning to will hinder the exponentially growing population. In this regard, introducing GMO might be a viable way or face starvation the unparalleled degree soon. It’s not an easy choice. We are doomed anyway!
We need to at least first study why some nations banned or restricted it before adopting and deciding on behalf of others.
GMO agenda is Bill Gates, Mensnto the company owns by him all his vaccines and GMO is to depopulation . All GMO cause Cancer. GMO is toxic chemical.
GMO is the dirty game in USA. GMO is the very source cancer. Why prime minister Abiy Ahmed offer the poor Ethiopian people to this dangerous agreement. It is colonialist dea to kill African people. Ethiopian be aware to stand together against GMO. No GMO in Ethiopia !!!
Aside its uncertainty on the health and nutrition of GMO, it makes farmers dependent on the pesticides and seeds of those who engineered them.
Ethiopia is blessed with nature, thus it only need advanced farming equipments. Let’s the arid countries think about GMO.
white European nation’s banned gmo’s for themselves. But force them on Black nation’s? This is just yet another tactic of the global Black genocide, perpetrated by all white racist nation’s.
How are GMOs beneficial to the people of Ethiopia over organic produce ?
Africa don’t need GMO foods
We have to stick with our oganic foods
Drip errigation and moderen farmig is accepteable but no GMO
Mister president no GMO
Your presidency is temporary.
Once you begin GMO it will stay consequence is severe on the soil on the farmers on the economy late Ethiopia stay organic.
Please could someone dedicate himself/herself to take a lead in coordinating the effort of all who are concerned to fight against indirect colonialism that is perpetrated through GMO. If we alow GMO, soon we will lose all the cerials unique to our country, and we will have to buy seeds from western countries that sistematically monopolize it.
Beneficial to Ethiopia farmers
Withe consequence (one time seed)
Land depletion zero nutrition on the soil what so ever for 10 years
Seed dependency Automatic colonialism
Distraction for frames beneficial for some individuals.
It is good initiation.
This is quite pernicious. In any case this is what I forewarned weeks ago.
https://medium.com/the-current-analyst-blog/the-biotechnology-trap-17ed1d1d1a33?source=collection_home—5——0———————–
It is disappointing to here that Ethiopia fall for this trap So Call GMO. Thank you all for shining the light on this mess.
I mean writing s petition.
Why is the prime minister deciding this alone without discussion with those advanced in the field.It dictates fate of the country for generations to come .Personally ,all I see is is danger of GMO.The last stronghold of organics ,Africa should not be a damping ground to satisfy commercial interest of the countries under grip of greedy corporations .
These biotechnology companies lobby the national governments and enter into poor third world countries easily and spread the posionous seeds and control the seed, capture the market and destroy the traditional agriculture practices which are so efficient already there are lot of issues and controversy’s going on regarding GMO lobbying which is bad to the humanity and because of very few people in the too level whole nation has to pay the price very sad news…
These biotechnology companies lobby the national governments and enter into poor third world countries easily and spread the posionous seeds and control the seed, capture the market and destroy the traditional agriculture practices which are so efficient already there are lot of issues and controversy’s going on regarding GMO lobbying which is bad to the humanity and because of very few people in the too level whole nation has to pay the price very sad news…
God help us all !!!
The only thing which kept Ethiopia’s independence and national survival is the country’s ability to be generaly food self-reliant, not totally food self-sufficient due to the illiterate agriculture, wrong and exploitative land tenure system in Ethiopia for centuries. The oligarchy in Addis Ababa contaminated Ethiopia’s soul, its politics, its churches, its mosques, its schools…,it was not able to destroy the country. Now it is working with capitalism under the pretext of science to contaminate its agriculture. It is very alarming that enset, one of the staple crops like teff linked with Ethiopia’s agricultural civilization is included in Neo-agricultural colonialism. Ethiopians should stand now! This is directly linked with Ethiopia’s survival. We cannot even wage war with potential enemies of Ethiopia, which are many, without ensuring our food sovereignty.
Why do westerners want us to make the same mistake they made??? Or are they planning to kill us slowly with virus and Gmo to invade Africa later???!!!!
GMO should not allowed in to Ethiopia, We have what God supplied to us the best Organic food that can’t harm our health! we should not fall into this trap!
Because it’s is their target, possess what we eat and control us, is their wicked strtategy. Why? Please read ….የሳጥናኤል ጎል አኢትዮጵያ 1 2 3
This is a slap in the face of all hardworking and decent Ethiopians. This present government is slipping and is beginning to fail its people. Either be for the people and stand on principle or this present Government is putting themselves in a very awkward position against ALL OF THE PEOPLE.
Noting that progress is a double edged sword…
X-rays: allow us to better evaluate broken bones to effectively treat complex fractures
but ionizing radiation causes cancer.
Chemotherapy kills cancer cells but also predisposes to other cancers (especially with pediatric cancer) but also wrecks havoc with healthy tissue.
Antibiotics treat infections and save lives but have allergic reactions and promote resistant organisms.
So what we need to do, as we have done is manage the benefits minimizing the risks.
As to GMO…. it is the future, with population growth we have to increase the “squeeze to juice ratio”….. increase the yield of our efforts…… again balancing the pros and cons…
GMO: pros
Insect resistance. This category of traits provides farmers with season-long protection against target pests, reduces the need for pesticide applications, and lowers input costs.
Drought tolerance. GM crops that express drought tolerance have better moisture retention and can better endure drought conditions without the need for additional irrigation.
Herbicide tolerance. Crops developed to tolerate specific herbicides allow farmers to fight weeds by applying targeted herbicides only when needed and enable them to use conservation tillage production methods that preserve topsoil, prevent erosion, and reduce carbon emissions.
Disease resistance. Through genetic engineering plant breeders can enable plants to resist certain diseases, like the papaya ringspot virus (PRSV). The GM Rainbow Papaya, developed to be resistant to PRSV, allowed Hawaiian papaya farmers to recover from an outbreak of this devastating disease that crippled their industry.
Enhanced nutritional content. Genetically modified soybeans with an enhanced oil profile, much like olive oil, have been developed and are longer lasting and trans-fat free.
Reduced food waste. Genetic engineering has been used to modify potatoes and apples in order to eliminate superficial browning and bruising (potato only) when the produce is cut or handled. These traits can help reduce the amount of produce thrown away by producers, processors, retailers and consumers.
Improved manufacturing processes. Certain biotech corn varieties enable more efficient biofuels production by improving the process through which cellulose and/or starch is broken down and converted to fuel. This helps reduce the environmental impact of the manufacturing process by decreasing the amount of water, electricity, and natural gas needed to produce biofuel.
What do you mean pros, minimize risks, once the damage is done?
I can’t believe someone would speak nonsense without getting/knowing the difference between GMO AND NON GMO. If you know the truth about GMO, you wouldn’t open your mouth. If you do a little Google search you can educate yourself. GMO is bad for humanity. Monsanto and likes should be charged for human extinction. Wake up people!
The pros that you have mentioned are from suppliers’ perspective. Providing favourable ground for rise in GM products ultimately deteriorates social and even economic conditions. From production and sales perspective GM is indeed ideal, nevertheless, it comes at a very huge cost. As far as I am concerned the current government in Ethiopia is very much short sighted and destructive. To be honest, poverty was never our biggest enemy, our biggest enemy was and still is betrayal.
Are being sponsored by Monsanto? Why are you just copy pasting the information from Monsanto website? Did u live in the West? And do u know who consume GMO foods? Please stop writing non sense if you don’t know about GMO. Our land is fertile and we don’t need Genetically Modified Organisms. These organisims are not as they are advertised by the companies who are promoting them. Most of East African countries rejected GMO and I don’t know why Ethiopia is barking on it. Abiy Ahmed is selling the country and history will nor forget him. He should scrap back the agreement and reject the introduction of GMO seeds
Dear Tewodros,
Now tell us about the cons?
God blessed Africa with the best weather, rich minerals and abundant resources. And yet we find ourselves in this situation. We have to be ashamed of ourselves us Africans especially those who claim to be educated, and managing our countries. We’re threatened in all forms: the viruses, the vaccines, inciting conflicts among ourselves to further their arms sales, GMOs, discrimination every where. We need to wake up.
And I don’t hear anyone raising the possibility of enacting some kind of law regarding population control. We can try it. China and India have done it with good results.
For a start somebody help us start a petition, please.
Ato Tewodros Are you a schmuck or drinking the cool aid from your masters. There is plenty of abundance to feed Ethiopians if we provided our farmers with mechanism and properly utilized the land and let them handle the farming instead of spreadsheet analytics pencil necks like you and your masters. Thanks as always there are bandas that sell out their people and we will fight you. For reference https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MNM833K22LM
Our Government policies and agreements should consider the long run effects on the health of the people, the conservation of the soil and the ecology, cautions towards neocolonialism targeted by GMO engineer transnational corporations. The fertilizer imports policy of Meless Zenawi has already made great damage on the soil of the country, made farmers dependent on harmful chemical. It has enriched many TPLF authorities at the expenses of the poor Ethiopian farmers and consumers.
GMO ‘s have severe effects on the health, economy and natural resources of our country. They can be instruments of neocolonialism , plundering and enslavement.
I can’t believe some people are agreeing to this madness! When it’s evident why GMO is banned in Europe. What ever the pros the GMO’s have, we will lose more and we could find other ways to increase agricultural productivity.
@ Tewodros Fessaha
አንተ እዚህ የጻፍከው የነሱን ማስታወቂያ ነው። There is a huge difference between sales literature and reality:
This is when government failed or lack capacity to fix the structural problems facing farmers to access services and markets for their organic and high demanded organic products. They chose short-term solutions that devastates our farming systems. We are number one when it comes to livestock, where if we have the right policy with true commitment, our farmers could have enjoyed high return from the highly demanded animal products while producing organic products, and keeping them nutritious and healthy.
I am very disappointed that Ethiopia has surrendered to the trappings of Bill Gates, Monsanto and GMO introduction to food and agriculture. This is wrong for Ethiopia and wrong for Africa.
GMO is for Corpotate profits and cancers for the natives.
Watch Food Inc 2008 – you can see clearly.
I Thank you ALL the recommenders for your Powerful understandings except 2 or 3 guys!
It is sad. This is what you get when African leaders who don’t love their people and who don’t have a vision for their people and future generations. Only self interest and greed. Who,in the right mind, would accept GMO, knowing that not only it is not good for the human body but also if you have a GMO plant, it will spoil other crops next to it! I am sorry that this is the legacy of Dr Abiy, who is a puppet, does not do his own research, just makes bad decisions over and over again. Not fit to be a leader!!
Total distraction to Ethiopia.Stop it.We have to stand together to stop this GMO plantations. The Ethiopian Institute for Agricultural Research must give us detail information for all us.
Our government is out of the humanity of this country…
Totally out of my area of expertise but i feel like the govt. should hold a scientific debate among related professionals before allowing such big risky projects
We are not accept as Ethiopian poeple, because its oposite from nature and God commandement. So by any meansa your organization never apply GMO on our land. As well as we know as your organization not done develoment you try to confuse our poeple by AID but you have other mission.
Please stop it…it is not important for our country rather than its impact on the healthy of our people.
at this time its not important for ethiopia its stupid idea gmo is not allowed in ethiopia
we did not agree
It is really sad to see when the government works against the safety of the community. We need to get out of scare and poor mentality. People are better off to fast for 40 days than to eat junk that alters human immunity and autonomy. But we know that UN’s agenda is to weaken the immunity and lower the population. What a world to live in 🙁
Stop Roll-out of GMO Crops in Ethiopia
Ethiopia is currently testing two controversial new GMO crops – maize, and enset (also known as false banana) – and 130 hectares of Bt-cotton have already been planted since 2019.
Ethiopia has resisted the use of GMOs for many years, playing a key role in the international negotiations that led to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. In 2009 Ethiopia enacted a highly restrictive biosafety law that prohibited the deliberate release of GMOs into the environment. Ethiopia thus protected its crop diversity from GMO contamination and genetic erosion. This was done in conjunction with a law prohibiting patents on plants and animals (Proclamation No. 123/1995) and a law establishing farmers’ rights to save, re-use, exchange and sell seeds of all kinds from their produce (Proclamation No. 481/2006, later amended to Proclamation No. 1068/2017).
This progress now risks being undone by the Ethiopian government’s rash approval of GMO testing.
The restrictive laws in Ethiopia were developed to protect smallholder farmers from becoming indebted to and dependent on multinational corporations for seeds. Farmers are not allowed to re-use patented GMO seeds saved from their harvest and must instead buy seeds from the companies every planting season. The Multinationals can even sue farmers if they find genes from their patented GMO seeds (e.g. maize) in other crops. This is against the “polluter pays” principle, where companies whose GMOs contaminate farmers’ fields are supposed to compensate farmers. This was what the government aimed to avert by passing a highly restrictive law towards approval of GM crop cultivation in the past. The USDA describes Ethiopia as the “vanguard of the anti-GMO movement in Africa.” The USDA notes that “Ethiopia helped to pen the restrictive Africa Model Law which has contributed to the delayed adoption of the technology on the [African] continent.” Environmental groups have hailed Ethiopian leadership as farsighted on sustainability.
The government’s opening up of the country to GMOs is degrading this legacy. There are no independent studies which show improved yield, disease-resistance, or socio-economic benefits for smallholder farmers from use of GM crops compared to conventionally-bred varieties. For example, genetically engineered cotton failed in Burkina Faso due to loss over time of its insect-resistant traits and yield potential. This has incurred economic losses for farmers due to high prices for seeds and associated agrochemicals. Besides, farmers were not able to use the seeds for food due to lack of confidence about its safety for their health. Similar experiences have been documented in India.
The USDA sees Ethiopia as a beachhead to expand GMO production in Africa. It notes that GMO production in Ethiopia not only has “economic importance but [is] also expected to have [a] positive influence on the acceptance of this technology in the region.”
Current testing of GMO crops puts Ethiopia’s biodiversity at risk. Ethiopia has the biggest national gene bank in Africa, which was established in 1976. As of June 2019, the national gene bank in Addis Ababa has conserved about 86,599 samples of seeds of over 100 species of plants (mainly food crops) that have been collected from all over the country. In two field gene banks, the country has conserved 5,644 samples of coffee plants.
We have to put pressure on PM Abiy Ahmed to avert social, economic, and environmental disaster. The livelihoods of millions of Ethiopian smallholders are at risk, as is Ethiopia’s unique biodiversity, which is a human treasure not to be exploited for commercial gain by a handful of multinational corporations.
Ethiopia is a symbol of independence and resistance against colonialism in Africa and has earned a reputation for organizing African unity in many areas, including the New Partnership For Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP). However, it now appears that Ethiopia will lead GMO adoption as the US hopes.
Let’s put pressure on PM Abiy Ahmed and his administration to revert this decision!
Source: https://addisstandard.com/commentary-ethiopias-acceptance-of-gmos-turns-decades-of-pan-african-environmental-leadership-on-its-head/
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/community_petitions/ethiopian_pm_abiy_ahmed__stop_gmo_in_ethiopia/?tRjfuqb
ከዚህ በላይ ከተሰጡት ሃሳቦች እንደተረዳሁት ከሆነ አብዛኞቻችሁ ልውጠ ህያው (GMO) ለሀገር ጥቅም ታስቦ ሳይሆን ለግል ፍላጎት መሟላት ቅድሚያ በሰጡ ስግብግብ ጥቂት ግለሰቦች ተላላኪነትና ወትዋችነት፣ ህጋዊ መሰረትና ግልፅነት ያለውን አሰራር ሳይከተሉ በድብቅ ወደ ኢትዮጵያ ለማስገባት የሚደረገውን ጥረት በተመለከተ የተሰማችሁን ስሜትና አሰራሩ ትክክል አለመሆኑን ለገለፃችሁ በሙሉ አክብሮቴ ከፍተኛ ነው፡፡ በጣምም ኮርቼባችኋላሁ፡፡ እንግዲህ የጉዳዩን ፖለቲካዊ ኢኮኖሚ ማለትም ተዋናዮቹን፣ ተቋማት፣ መዋቅር፣ እና መስተጋብር (actors, institutions, structures and dynamic interaction) በአግባቡ መረዳት በተደራጀ አካሄድ በማስረጃ አስደግፈን መቃወምና ማስቆም የሚገባን ስለሚመስለኝ በዚህ ረገድ ምን መደረግ ሃሳብ ያላsችሁ ለጀመርነው ቅረት ድጋፍ የሚሆን የሃሳብና ሌላም ገንቢ አሰተዋፅኦ ማድረግ ከፈለጋችሁ በኢሜይል አድራሻችን ethioconsumers@gmail.com እንድትልኩልን በአክብሮት እንጠይቃለን፡፡
Don’t allow GMO in Ethiopia this is not natural or organic it is modified that is hazardous for the population health please investigate here in USA we avoid as much not to buy GMO food there is no benefit you will regret forever 🛑 it