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Sender Published on Friday, May 18, 2012 by Common Dreams
Obama's 'Poverty-Relieving' Plan for Africa a Profit Boon for Giant
Agribusiness
$3 billion investment from BigAg leaves sustainable agriculture, small-scale
farmers' voices behind
- Common Dreams staff
President Obama's announcement today of $3 billion in private investments in
a poverty- and hunger-relieving plan for Africa is set to be a boon for giant
agribusiness, a move critics say leaves small-scale farmers and
agro-ecological methods in the dust.
“The rhetoric is all about small-scale producers, but they haven’t yet
been a part of the G-8’s conversation,” Lamine Ndiaye of Oxfam said.
(photo: Oxfam International)
The pledged investments come from agricultural behemoths including Dupont,
Monsanto and Cargill.
The G8, now meeting in Maryland, has presented a view of private investments
as a way of solving poverty.
“The G8 must not give in to the temptation to make bold and convenient
assumptions about the private sector as a development panacea,” said Gawain
Kripke, Director of Policy and Research at Oxfam America.
Raj Shah, the administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development,
argued that a public-sector solution to alleviating hunger is "highly
unlikely." Kripke, however, dismisses that claim.
“There is no evidence that the growing focus on private sector engagement
at the expense of other approaches will truly deliver for the fight against
hunger,” said Kripke.
The planned investment does not bring the voices of small-scale farmers to
the table, but does set a plan for massive profits to be reaped by giant
agribusiness. “The rhetoric is all about small-scale producers, but they
haven’t yet been a part of the G-8’s conversation,” Lamine Ndiaye of
Oxfam said. Giant agribusiness' "objective is not to fight against hunger;
their objective is to make money” Ndiaye said.
Ronnie Cummins, Director of Organic Consumers Association, states that the
Obama approach to alleviating hunger through the investment of corporations
is "misguided." "To help the world’s two billion small farmers and rural
villagers survive and prosper we need to help them gain access, not to
genetically engineered seeds and expensive chemical inputs; but rather access
to land, water, and the tools and techniques of traditional, sustainable
farming: non-patented open-pollinated seeds, crop rotation, natural compost
production, beneficial insects, and access to local markets."
"Bill Gates, Monsanto, and Barack Obama may believe that genetic engineering
and chemical-intensive agriculture are the tools to feed the world, but a
look at the 'fatal harvest' of modern agribusiness tells a different story.
Not only can climate-friendly, healthy organic agriculture practices feed the
world, but in fact organic farming is the only way we are going to be able to
feed the world,” added Cummins.
* * *
Reuters: Obama to announce $3 billion from private sector to relieve hunger
in Africa
U.S. President Barack Obama will announce a new public-private partnership
program on Friday, seeking to spur this weekend’s summit of the wealthy G8
to focus on market methods to boost production, particularly among
hardscrabble small-scale farmers in Africa who may hold the key to improved
world food supplies. [...]
Other partnership projects include seed product packs tailored to African
farmers from Swiss agrochemicals giant Syngenta, improved telecommunications
access from British telecoms firm Vodafone and a potential African site for a
proposed $2 billion fertilizer production facility planned by Norway’s Yara
International.
* * *
McClatchy: Obama to announce Africa farm plan to relieve poverty
President Barack Obama will announce an alliance Friday with nearly 50
companies to boost productivity among small farmers in Africa with the goal
of lifting 50 million people out of poverty.
Business executives from agricultural giants such as DuPont and Monsanto will
join Obama, along with the leaders of three African countries who have
pledged policy changes that U.S. officials say will improve business climates
and encourage investment.
* * *
Statement from Ronnie Cummins, Director of Organic Consumers Association:
“Study after study has shown that organic, agro-ecological farming
practices on small diverse farms can boost yields in Africa and the
developing world from 100-1000% over the yields of chemical-intensive or
genetically engineered mono-crop farms. To help the world’s two billion
small farmers and rural villagers survive and prosper we need to help them
gain access, not to genetically engineered seeds and expensive chemical
inputs; but rather access to land, water, and the tools and techniques of
traditional, sustainable farming: non-patented open-pollinated seeds, crop
rotation, natural compost production, beneficial insects, and access to local
markets. Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) reduce crop yields, and
increase pesticide use, even according to USDA statistics. Bill Gates,
Monsanto, and Barack Obama may believe that genetic engineering and
chemical-intensive agriculture are the tools to feed the world, but a look at
the “fatal harvest” of modern agribusiness tells a different story. Not
only can climate-friendly, healthy organic agriculture practices feed the
world, but in fact organic farming is the only way we are going to be able to
feed the world.”
President Obama's announcement
today of $3 billion in private investments in a poverty- and hunger-relieving
plan for Africa is set to be a boon for giant agribusiness, a move critics
say leaves small-scale farmers and agro-ecological methods in the
dust. Click
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