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.
Sunday, 21 June 2009
Madonna's star power in Malawi
Eliza Manyoza, a banana vendor in Malawi's colonial-era capital Zomba, says she has never heard a Madonna song. She only knows the American pop icon as an "adopter" of orphaned children.
"I am told she is a nice woman who wants to help our children," Manyoza, 39, told AFP, with her nine-month-old baby strapped at her back and balancing a basket of bananas on her head.
She knew that Madonna had adopted David Banda, a toddler the star met at an orphanage three years ago, but had just learned of the Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal's decision to grant her a second adoption of a girl named Chifundo "Mercy" James, who let Malawi Friday to join the singer in London.
"That's great news and very nice of her," Manyoza said. "But how many children can she take out of Malawi? Where are the rich Malawians who should be adopting their own children and not leave it to Madonna?"
Her sentiments echo those heard around the country, where Madonna has sparked a global debate about the merits of international adoption.
Malawi is a particularly grim case study in the plight of orphans.
One of the poorest nations in the world, the government says 1.5 million children have been orphaned by AIDS -- a figure that represents nearly 10 percent of the total population.
Manyoza lives in the slums of Chikanda, a shantytown on the edge of this British colonial town, where 12 orphanages have opened -- many in just the last two years.
Hundreds more are spread across Malawi, a country the size of New York state.
"We have reached a crisis point and Malawi does not have the resources to deal with the problem," said Cyrus Jeke, an official at the ministry of women and child development.
Madonna has established her own charity Raising Malawi, which has built a state-of-the-art hostel at Home of Hope in Mchinji -- the orphanage where she first saw her adopted son David among the 500 children cared for there.
She has also built a day-care centre at Consol Home, a charity which looks after 10,000 orphans in scores of villages outside the administrative capital Lilongwe.
Rights activist Undule Mwakasungura laments the fact that a foreign celebrity had to step in to raise awareness about orphans.
"It's the primary responsibility of the state to provide for orphaned children," he said.
Government should use tax revenue to "care for these children instead of abandoning them to the wishes and devises of celebrities," said Mwakasungura, who chairs the Human Rights Consultative Committee -- a network of 85 local rights groups.
Boniface Mandere, an official of the nation's leading child rights body Eye of the Child, said Malawi has financial resources to help vulnerable children.
"What we lack is wisdom of how to use those resources. It's about commitment. We need to pump more resources to social services," he said.
Plan Malawi, an international charity focussing on children, applauded Madonna's good intentions, but urged her to do more to lobby governments and businesses to strengthen community structures on the ground, Plan adds.
"The challenges facing our orphans and other vulnerable children can be handled with a strong social protection structure," said Mcdonald Mumba, Plan's children's rights advisor.
Such questions about why the government has not done more to care for the nation's children reverberate through the country, casting a particularly harsh light on the political classes and the wealthy.
"It all shows Madonna saw that the question of orphans is a serious issue which needs addressing," Manyoza said.
"But where are the rich Malawians? Where are the rich politicians? Where is the government? Madonna will not manage alone even though she has a lot of money."
"I am told she is a nice woman who wants to help our children," Manyoza, 39, told AFP, with her nine-month-old baby strapped at her back and balancing a basket of bananas on her head.
She knew that Madonna had adopted David Banda, a toddler the star met at an orphanage three years ago, but had just learned of the Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal's decision to grant her a second adoption of a girl named Chifundo "Mercy" James, who let Malawi Friday to join the singer in London.
"That's great news and very nice of her," Manyoza said. "But how many children can she take out of Malawi? Where are the rich Malawians who should be adopting their own children and not leave it to Madonna?"
Her sentiments echo those heard around the country, where Madonna has sparked a global debate about the merits of international adoption.
Malawi is a particularly grim case study in the plight of orphans.
One of the poorest nations in the world, the government says 1.5 million children have been orphaned by AIDS -- a figure that represents nearly 10 percent of the total population.
Manyoza lives in the slums of Chikanda, a shantytown on the edge of this British colonial town, where 12 orphanages have opened -- many in just the last two years.
Hundreds more are spread across Malawi, a country the size of New York state.
"We have reached a crisis point and Malawi does not have the resources to deal with the problem," said Cyrus Jeke, an official at the ministry of women and child development.
Madonna has established her own charity Raising Malawi, which has built a state-of-the-art hostel at Home of Hope in Mchinji -- the orphanage where she first saw her adopted son David among the 500 children cared for there.
She has also built a day-care centre at Consol Home, a charity which looks after 10,000 orphans in scores of villages outside the administrative capital Lilongwe.
Rights activist Undule Mwakasungura laments the fact that a foreign celebrity had to step in to raise awareness about orphans.
"It's the primary responsibility of the state to provide for orphaned children," he said.
Government should use tax revenue to "care for these children instead of abandoning them to the wishes and devises of celebrities," said Mwakasungura, who chairs the Human Rights Consultative Committee -- a network of 85 local rights groups.
Boniface Mandere, an official of the nation's leading child rights body Eye of the Child, said Malawi has financial resources to help vulnerable children.
"What we lack is wisdom of how to use those resources. It's about commitment. We need to pump more resources to social services," he said.
Plan Malawi, an international charity focussing on children, applauded Madonna's good intentions, but urged her to do more to lobby governments and businesses to strengthen community structures on the ground, Plan adds.
"The challenges facing our orphans and other vulnerable children can be handled with a strong social protection structure," said Mcdonald Mumba, Plan's children's rights advisor.
Such questions about why the government has not done more to care for the nation's children reverberate through the country, casting a particularly harsh light on the political classes and the wealthy.
"It all shows Madonna saw that the question of orphans is a serious issue which needs addressing," Manyoza said.
"But where are the rich Malawians? Where are the rich politicians? Where is the government? Madonna will not manage alone even though she has a lot of money."
Madonna's star power in Malawi
Eliza Manyoza, a banana vendor in Malawi's colonial-era capital Zomba, says she has never heard a Madonna song. She only knows the American pop icon as an "adopter" of orphaned children.
"I am told she is a nice woman who wants to help our children," Manyoza, 39, told AFP, with her nine-month-old baby strapped at her back and balancing a basket of bananas on her head.
She knew that Madonna had adopted David Banda, a toddler the star met at an orphanage three years ago, but had just learned of the Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal's decision to grant her a second adoption of a girl named Chifundo "Mercy" James, who let Malawi Friday to join the singer in London.
"That's great news and very nice of her," Manyoza said. "But how many children can she take out of Malawi? Where are the rich Malawians who should be adopting their own children and not leave it to Madonna?"
Her sentiments echo those heard around the country, where Madonna has sparked a global debate about the merits of international adoption.
Malawi is a particularly grim case study in the plight of orphans.
One of the poorest nations in the world, the government says 1.5 million children have been orphaned by AIDS -- a figure that represents nearly 10 percent of the total population.
Manyoza lives in the slums of Chikanda, a shantytown on the edge of this British colonial town, where 12 orphanages have opened -- many in just the last two years.
Hundreds more are spread across Malawi, a country the size of New York state.
"We have reached a crisis point and Malawi does not have the resources to deal with the problem," said Cyrus Jeke, an official at the ministry of women and child development.
Madonna has established her own charity Raising Malawi, which has built a state-of-the-art hostel at Home of Hope in Mchinji -- the orphanage where she first saw her adopted son David among the 500 children cared for there.
She has also built a day-care centre at Consol Home, a charity which looks after 10,000 orphans in scores of villages outside the administrative capital Lilongwe.
Rights activist Undule Mwakasungura laments the fact that a foreign celebrity had to step in to raise awareness about orphans.
"It's the primary responsibility of the state to provide for orphaned children," he said.
Government should use tax revenue to "care for these children instead of abandoning them to the wishes and devises of celebrities," said Mwakasungura, who chairs the Human Rights Consultative Committee -- a network of 85 local rights groups.
Boniface Mandere, an official of the nation's leading child rights body Eye of the Child, said Malawi has financial resources to help vulnerable children.
"What we lack is wisdom of how to use those resources. It's about commitment. We need to pump more resources to social services," he said.
Plan Malawi, an international charity focussing on children, applauded Madonna's good intentions, but urged her to do more to lobby governments and businesses to strengthen community structures on the ground, Plan adds.
"The challenges facing our orphans and other vulnerable children can be handled with a strong social protection structure," said Mcdonald Mumba, Plan's children's rights advisor.
Such questions about why the government has not done more to care for the nation's children reverberate through the country, casting a particularly harsh light on the political classes and the wealthy.
"It all shows Madonna saw that the question of orphans is a serious issue which needs addressing," Manyoza said.
"But where are the rich Malawians? Where are the rich politicians? Where is the government? Madonna will not manage alone even though she has a lot of money."
"I am told she is a nice woman who wants to help our children," Manyoza, 39, told AFP, with her nine-month-old baby strapped at her back and balancing a basket of bananas on her head.
She knew that Madonna had adopted David Banda, a toddler the star met at an orphanage three years ago, but had just learned of the Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal's decision to grant her a second adoption of a girl named Chifundo "Mercy" James, who let Malawi Friday to join the singer in London.
"That's great news and very nice of her," Manyoza said. "But how many children can she take out of Malawi? Where are the rich Malawians who should be adopting their own children and not leave it to Madonna?"
Her sentiments echo those heard around the country, where Madonna has sparked a global debate about the merits of international adoption.
Malawi is a particularly grim case study in the plight of orphans.
One of the poorest nations in the world, the government says 1.5 million children have been orphaned by AIDS -- a figure that represents nearly 10 percent of the total population.
Manyoza lives in the slums of Chikanda, a shantytown on the edge of this British colonial town, where 12 orphanages have opened -- many in just the last two years.
Hundreds more are spread across Malawi, a country the size of New York state.
"We have reached a crisis point and Malawi does not have the resources to deal with the problem," said Cyrus Jeke, an official at the ministry of women and child development.
Madonna has established her own charity Raising Malawi, which has built a state-of-the-art hostel at Home of Hope in Mchinji -- the orphanage where she first saw her adopted son David among the 500 children cared for there.
She has also built a day-care centre at Consol Home, a charity which looks after 10,000 orphans in scores of villages outside the administrative capital Lilongwe.
Rights activist Undule Mwakasungura laments the fact that a foreign celebrity had to step in to raise awareness about orphans.
"It's the primary responsibility of the state to provide for orphaned children," he said.
Government should use tax revenue to "care for these children instead of abandoning them to the wishes and devises of celebrities," said Mwakasungura, who chairs the Human Rights Consultative Committee -- a network of 85 local rights groups.
Boniface Mandere, an official of the nation's leading child rights body Eye of the Child, said Malawi has financial resources to help vulnerable children.
"What we lack is wisdom of how to use those resources. It's about commitment. We need to pump more resources to social services," he said.
Plan Malawi, an international charity focussing on children, applauded Madonna's good intentions, but urged her to do more to lobby governments and businesses to strengthen community structures on the ground, Plan adds.
"The challenges facing our orphans and other vulnerable children can be handled with a strong social protection structure," said Mcdonald Mumba, Plan's children's rights advisor.
Such questions about why the government has not done more to care for the nation's children reverberate through the country, casting a particularly harsh light on the political classes and the wealthy.
"It all shows Madonna saw that the question of orphans is a serious issue which needs addressing," Manyoza said.
"But where are the rich Malawians? Where are the rich politicians? Where is the government? Madonna will not manage alone even though she has a lot of money."
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