GM maize in Malawi: visions of a problem

Image of people carrying water in MalawiGuess which charity's “philanthropic goal” is to “bridge the gap between people's needs and their available resources ... to help people realize their dreams, and hopefully inspire them to enroll others in their vision”?

Here are some clues: the 'needs' are food, the 'resources' are land, their 'dreams' are crops growing on the 'resources', and the 'vision' they should be inspired to enroll others in involves GM crops.

The 'goal' above is that of the Monsanto Fund, the charitable arm of the biotech giant, an organisation created to build the company's image as a champion of the poor.

The Monsanto Fund seeks to legitimise the desired image by giving grants to NGOs. Its charitable schemes include the 'Monsanto Fund Matching Gift Program' which supports requests from bodies such as “colleges and universities, private and public elementary and secondary schools, organizations that serve youth, museums, libraries, health and human service agencies, environmental, community and cultural organizations.” One of the recipients of the “matching gifts” is the long-established charity, World Vision.

In 2006, when Monsanto was seeking a foothold for its biotech seed in Sub-Sahara Africa, its CEO Hugh Grant said “... what do we need? We need one African country to say yes (to GM). One African country to start field trials. We need to start the field trials and start testing this in African soil, and at Monsanto we're ready to work with an array of partners to make it happen.”

Typical of the type of African country Monsanto was setting its sights on was Malawi. Here, agriculture is the primary industry, and 72% of the people's calorie intake depends on maize. Conveniently, a severe drought in 2004 made Malawi just the kind of prey a predator company like Monsanto could move in on. According to Hugh Grant, Monsanto held “a discussion” with “the Malawi government, and some of the relief agencies, particularly an agency called World Vision. We got together ...” On December 20, 2005, Monsanto announced its intention to donate 500 metric tons of “quality hybrid maize seeds” to farmers in Malawi through “some of the NGOs and government and relief agencies working on delivery and distribution systems.”

According to Monsanto's pledges to “make the world a better place for future generations”, increased yields are the core of this agenda. So, in the Company's vision, Malawi's problems will be solved by increasing yields of its staple food, maize. These increased yields can, of course, be had from Monsanto's GM maize seed (plus all the attendant agrichemicals the Company sells).

A representative of World Vision Malawi said “This donation (of GM maize seed) is addressing both the short-term and the long-term needs of the people in Malawi ...”

Monsanto's vision is, no doubt, the future sales of its patented GM seed starting with Malawi and spreading across all the countries of the huge African continent once these are inspired to enroll in the GM dream (plus all the attendant agrichemicals the Company sells).

Oddly, World Vision doesn't seem to see the “true problems” enumerated to the Vatican by African bishops: lack of cultivatable land, water, energy, access to credit, agricultural training, local markets, and road infrastructures. GM crops, no matter what their yield, will not solve any of these deficiencies. Moreover, it seems very short-sighted to ignore the implications of the patents and other industry blocks on seed-saving linked to GM, or of dependence on expensive agrichemicals and outside technologies.

ACTION AID

Action Aid logo Another vision of Malawi's problems, and how best to tackle them is given by Action Aid. This charity recognises not only the farmers' vulnerability due to weather, and the prohibitive cost of quality seed and chemicals, but also the extent to which dependency on a single crop, maize, has contributed to the food shortages. Action Aid's approach has been to help people to help themselves deal with these problems, especially in the long-term, for example:

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formation of farming co-operatives
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sharing knowledge on how to improve access to markets, fertilisers and seeds
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training people in small-scale irrigation to grow crops all year round
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constructing seed banks (10 so far in Malawi) so that communities can borrow seeds at times of food shortage.