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South Asia

Who's Who in the Fight Against Global Hunger

by: Jill Richardson

Sat Apr 11, 2009 at 15:38:51 PM PDT

A few guys from Monsanto found this blog and commented the other day. As they rightly pointed out, to the best of my knowledge, Monsanto is NOT directly behind S.384, the bill that seeks to start a second Green Revolution (i.e. introducing unsustainable agricultural techniques to the developing world in the name of helping the hungry). Fair enough. So I figured it might be worthwhile to identify who IS behind such an effort. And - while it's mostly the Gates Foundation - Monsanto's not uninvolved.

Also - about the question the Monsanto employees raised about how their company stood to profit from this bill. While the bill specifically does not SAY that any money will go to Monsanto, the Chicago Council's plan calls for USAID to take the lead on global hunger and mentions public-private partnerships. Monsanto is already involved in one such public-private partnership with USAID in Kenya. So it's not too much of a stretch to imagine they would be included in whatever may come of this bill.

There's More... :: (4 Comments, 640 words in story)

The Bad Guys' Plan to Feed the Hungry

by: Jill Richardson

Thu Apr 09, 2009 at 20:00:00 PM PDT

Recently, I've been ranting about the bill S.384, which Organic Consumers Association calls the REAL Monsanto bill. [UPDATE: To clarify, I do not believe Monsanto is behind the bill. If any one group could take credit for the bill, it would be the Gates Foundation.] Two of the people who testified in the bill's hearing (Bertini and Glickman) were from a group called the Chicago Council. The Chicago Council published a report on helping global hunger, and they were advocating for it. The others who testified on the same panel also agreed with the plan. It was pretty clear from the hearing that the plan called for a Green Revolution redux, but I figured - what the hell, better read the report.

As predicted, the executive summary began by calling for a second Green Revolution. (If you're unfamiliar with the first Green Revolution, it was the export of our pesticides, fertilizer, and unsustainable agriculture techniques to the developing world... nothing "green" about it.)

The source of these problems is not fluctuating food prices on the world market, but low productivity on the farm. The production growth needed will have to come from improved farm policies, technologies, and techniques, including those that address the effects of  climate change. - Chicago Council report, p. 16

If you read that paragraph you will see that the Chicago Council's overall plan will all aim to increase crop yields in the developing world. I DO agree that helping poor farmers improve agricultural techniques is a good idea. I DON'T agree that pesticides & fertilizers are the way to do it. I don't know enough about Africa to know whether or not their problem is truly crop yields.

I also think that more besides increased yields is needed. Think about all of the support our society & government provides here in the U.S. We have paved roads all over the country, everyone can be plugged into the electric grid, phone lines, and internet. We have a working court system. We have police and fire departments. Everyone can have a free education K-12. We have clean water. We're not living in a war zone either, and while our government is corrupt in some ways, it's pretty darn good in comparison to places like Sudan. I'm not suggesting that the solution for poor African farmers is broadband internet, but I do think it's important to take into account what kind of support structures developing countries' governments can put into place to help their people.

There's More... :: (33 Comments, 525 words in story)
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