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Open letter to the new Minister of Agriculture of Burkina Faso A few days ago I went to the ECOWAS trade fair in Ouagadougou. The National Confederation of Cotton Farmers of Burkina, the UNPCB, had put on display a small basket of organic cotton and a large basket of Bt Bollgard II cotton ( brand owned by the Monsanto company). At present I am in Paris and just about to end reading a book called “The World according to Monsanto” by Marie-Monique Robin. It seems to me that each and every responsible politician in general and ministers of agriculture in particular, should read this book. In today’s newsletter I shall quote a few passages, which mainly concern the experience of Monsanto Bt cotton in India.
Page 26 Monsanto on PCBs (poly-chlorinated bi-phenyls - an industrial chemical manufactured by Monsanto and sold under the brand name of Pyralene) : “We cannot allow ourselves to lose one dollar on our business.” This is a staggering statement, given that Monsanto had been aware of the serious health hazard of PCBs since 1937. But the company pretended not to know, until a final ban on these products was passed in 1977. …/ … Page 309 “Three suicides a day” “Can we film this?” I asked, overtaken by a sudden doubt, as my cameraman signalled me a question by a movement of his head. “Of course” replied Kate Tarak, an agronomist in charge of an NGO specialising in organic farming. He accompanied me everywhere during our journey across the cotton belt of Vidarbha in the State of Maharashtra in the south west of India. “That is why Kishor Tiwari took us to this villlage. He knew that today there would be the funeral of a farmer who committed suicide …” When Kikshor Tiwari heard the reply from Kate Tarak, he nodded: “I didn’t tell you about this, for reasons of safety: The villagers inform us as soon as a farmer kills himself and we attend all the funerals. At present there are three a day on an average. The young farmer who died today had swallowed one litre of pesticide. That is how the farmers put an end to their lives, they use the chemical pesticides they were supposed no longer to need, when growing GMO cotton …” As the funeral procession moved away towards the river, where the body of the young farmer was to be incinerated, a group of men approached our camera crew. They looked at us warily, but Kishor’s presence reassured them. “Tell the world that Bt cotton is a disaster”, an old man called out, incensed. “In our village, this is the second suicide since the beginning of the harvest, it can only get worse, the transgenic seeds have yielded nothing!” “They have lied to us”, said the village chief, enhancing his words.” They told us that these magic seeds were going to allow us to earn money, but we have all become indebted and the harvest is nil! What will become of us?” Page 312 Kishor Tiwari is keen to show me the cotton market at Pandhakawada, one of the largest in the State of Maharashtra … No sooner had we passed the impressive gate to the market, than we were assailed by hundreds of angry cotton farmers, who surrounded us so closely that we could no longer move. “We have been here for many days by now with our harvest,” one of them said, shaking a bale of cotton in each hand. “The traders’ price is so low that we cannot accept it. We all have our debts to pay …” “How much is your debt?” Kate Tarak asked. “52 000 Rupees” the farmer replied, (about 570 000 CFA francs). Thereupon a mind-blowing scene broke out with tens of farmers calling out the amount of their debt, one after the other : 50 000 Rupees …20 000 Rupees…32 000 Rupees … 36 000 Rupees”. Nothing seemed able to halt the litany that rambled through the crowd, like an unstoppable tidal wave. - “We don’t want any more Bt cotton! shouted a man whom I was unable to locate. - “No!” bellowed tens of voices. - “How many of you will not plant Bt cotton again next year?” Kate Tarak continued, obviously deeply moved. A whole forest of hands went up, which the cameraman Guillaume Martin miraculously was able to catch on film, while we were literally crushed in the midst of this human sea, making filming extremely difficult. “The problem”, sighed Kate Tarak, “is that these farmers will have a hard time finding non-transgenic cotton seeds, because Monsanto controls practically the entire market …” Page 340 GMOs are among the most strongly rejected products that ever existed. More than thirty-five countries have announced legislation limiting imports of GMOs or imposing labelling of foodstuffs containing genetically modified ingredients. Most European food distributors have taken action to ensure that no transgenic ingredient is used in their products. This is the case with Nestlé, Unilever, Heinz, ASDA (Wal-Mart), Carrefour, Tesco and many others. Outside Europe there is also strong consumer opposition against GMOs, both in Asia and in Africa. (End of quote) If the UNPCB and the government of Burkina Faso do not stop their plans to develop Monsanto Bt cotton cultivation , I shall personally do everything I can to avoid eating Savor cooking oil, produced by SN Citec with cotton seeds from the SOFITEX cotton company (Société Burkinabè des Fibres et Textiles). Paris, April 13th 2008 Maurice Oudet Director, SEDELAN |
