Voices from Africa. African farmers and environmentalists speak out against a new green revolution in Africa

Chronic hunger affects hundreds of millions of people worldwide but it is deeply entrenched in Africa. This crisis has raised major questions about industrial agriculture and how best to address the needs of the hungry. The food crisis in Africa is being used to make the case for addressing hunger by increasing agricultural production through technical solutions such as genetically engineered (GE) crops. <br /><br />This paper synthesizes different opinions on the opposition to genetic engineering, chemical-input based agriculture and the biotech industry in Africa.<br /><br />The report notes that organisations such as the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) advocate for GMOs. The authors argue that AGRA&rsquo;s position is wrongheaded; rather than solving problems of hunger and poverty in Africa, it is deepening them. Genetically modified crops create dependence on chemicals such as herbicides as some varieties are engineered to be herbicide tolerant, which often leads to the emergence of super-weeds. African nations lack the expertise, equipment, infrastructure, legislation, and regulatory systems to implement effective biosafety measures for GM crops. They also lack the funds to build these up and will have to look for outside funding, which will increase their already heavy foreign debt loads. Therefore development of GM agriculture is not a priority for African governments at this point in time. Furthermore, GM crops are designed for agricultural systems with characteristics that are a mismatch for Africa.<br /><br />Recommendations given include:<br /> farmers need to be involved in the planning and decision-making process of initiatives launched to increase agricultural productivity in Africa there is a need for investment in capacity building for farmers and participatory research to strengthen their knowledge, which will be transferred from generation to generation there is a need to build awareness on environmental issues, international conventions, and treaties to safeguard our biodiversity, in addition to ensuring that farmers are involved in national, regional, and international debates on policies that impact agriculture African governments should put in place strict biosafety laws based on the precautionary principle rather than biofuel, the African government should promote other safe sources of energy like solar and wind since the inherent impacts of biofuel may outweigh its usefulness all African governments should put in place mechanism to monitor commercial imports of food to ensure that they are not contaminated by GMOs.