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Monsanto “Haiti’s New Earthquake”

Monsanto, Haiti’s “New Earthquake”

In 2003, I won “Professional Medical Journalist of the Year” for an article entitled “GM Foods and the starving millions in Southern Africa”. In that period, southern Africa was been in the grip of a devastating famine. A report from the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that nearly 14 million people, including 2.3 million children under the age of 5, were at risk of starvation. Without effective action the WHO estimated that at least 300,000 would die from hunger and disease and aid agencies estimated that the region needed roughly 1.1 million tons of grain to address the crisis. Yet when the U.S. offered 540,000 tons of genetically modified grain to countries in the region, many countries rejected the offer.  The column I wrote, the Cutting Edge stood firm with the people of Africa after U.S. Secretary of State, Colin Powell, reproached the starving southern African nations at the Johannesburg summit, on the basis that if GM foods were good enough for Americans to eat, why weren’t they good enough for starving people to eat?”  I asked Mr. Powell not be hypocritical as consumers in both Europe and America had  their own fears about GM produce, which is the reason that they are willing to go into their local supermarket and pay twice or more to buy organically produced fruits and vegetables. He said that he should be aware that as he tucked into his fillet mingion andlobster tails there are many of his own race that would go to bed hungry that night, simply wishing to eat and not to debate the ethical moralities of altering the plant genome. On the basis of his argument, maybe Mr Powell should have decided to eat kanunka, chikaanda, or hopani just because the Tonga, Bemba, and Lozi people respectively ate them. In the end of the column, I said we must respect the fact that the decision of African nations to reject food aid from the United States was not made out of ignorance, but out of fear.

In that period, southern African governments found themselves in a dilemma: they had to choose between letting their citizens starve to death or giving them genetically modified food aid that many believed could be harmful to health. European nations said they would not accept ‘food exports’ from Africa if GM crops were allowed to be grown. Several governments in the region objected to the GM grain, especially Zambia and Zimbabwe, the countries hardest hit by the drought. Citing health and environmental concerns, Zimbabwe blocked the GM food aid from entering the country. In Zambia, where some GM grain had already arrived, the government placed it under lock and key, banned its distribution and then blocked another 40,000 tonnes that were in the pipeline. Proponents of genetically modified foods countered that there was no solid evidence that they were harmful to health. Many said that famine conditions required an emergency response and the short-term effects of malnutrition coupled with HIV/AIDS outweighed the long-term effects of GM foods on health.

Some critics also raised another concern. Olga Manda in an article entitled “Controversy rages over ‘GM’ food aid in Africa Renewal, Vol.16 #4 (February 2003), wrote “genetically modified seeds could contaminate local crop varieties, known in scientific terms as “out-crossing.” Such contamination could hinder exports to the European Union, which strictly controls GM experimentation and generally prohibits importation of such organisms”.

In response to Manda’s particular concern, some African countries, including Lesotho and Mozambique, started milling the GM grain so no seeds could enter the local farming system. In the end, responses differed across the region. Swazi officials said that they didn’t have an objection to GM food, but Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe all asked that GM seeds be milled before distribution to prevent their cross-breeding with local flora. Zambia’s President Levy Mwanawasa initially blocked GM food aid for the 2.5 million Zambians facing starvation, calling it “poison,” but following popular outcry, sent a team of scientists to visit Oslo, Brussels, New York, Washington, and South Africa to study the safety of the GM foods before reaching a final decision.

Now eight years later we have a similar situation arising in Haiti. The trouble started when, Monsanto decided to donate to Haiti a gift of 475 tons of hybrid GM corn and vegetable seeds treated with fertilizers and pesticides. This was the equivalent of US$4m in seeds of hybrid corn, cabbage, carrots, eggplant, melon, onion, tomato, spinach and watermelon. Since gaining their independence from France more than 200 years ago in a bloody slave uprising, Haitian farmers have wisely protected their seeds and nurtured native crop varieties. They know that true food security is maintained by farmers who save, trade and breed indigenous seeds using traditional organic methods. In a recent article by Ronnie Cummings in the Huffington Post entitled “Monsanto Poison Pills for Haiti” he quotes Haitian peasant farmer leader Chavannes Jean-Baptiste of the Peasant Movement of Papay (MPP) as saying  the news that Monsanto will be dumping 60,000 seed sacks (475 tons) of hybrid corn seeds and vegetable seeds on Haiti, as “a new earthquake”.  He continues “these seeds are doused with highly toxic fungicides such as thiram, known to be extremely dangerous to farm workers”.

Hybrid seeds, like GMO seeds (in contrast to Creole heirloom or organic seeds) require lots of water, chemical fertilizers, and pesticides. In addition, if a small farmer tries to save hybrid seeds after harvest, hybrid seeds usually do not “breed true” or grow very well in the second season. Cummings argues that “this forces the now-indentured peasant to buy seeds from Monsanto or one of the other hybrid/GMO seed monopolies in perpetuity”. The standoff has reached the stage that Haitian small farmers have threatened to burn Monsanto’s seeds, and has called for a march to protest the corporation’s presence in Haiti on June 4, for World Environment Day.

In another article, Chavannes Jean-Baptiste wrote earlier this year, “We need to establish seed banks and have silos where we can store our Creole seeds. Local, organic seeds are the basis of food sovereignty. It’s urgent that Haitians buy local seeds. … What’s the danger we face today? It’s that food aid from USAID and others is getting dumped in Haiti.” It is known that Monsanto’s seeds will be distributed by the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) WINNER program. USAID is a tax-payer funded agency that promotes the United States’ interests abroad. So what have Monsanto to say about all this? In a blog on their website they state

“Since announcing Monsanto’s $4 million seed donation to Haitian farmers on May 13, there have been some questions and some inaccuracies regarding details of the gift. It’s disheartening to see people encouraging Haitian farmers to “burn Monsanto seeds,” especially when the ones hurt by that action will be Haitian farmers and the Haitian people—not those of us watching on the sidelines”.

Later in the same blog Monsanto issued this response “We contacted the Haitian Ministry of Agriculture and offered specific non-GMO seed varieties and quantities suited for Haiti’s growing conditions. The Ministry reviewed the offer and asked some questions, including whether we intended to include GMO seed because Haiti does not have the legal framework in place to approve or use biotech seeds today. We clarified that Monsanto’s offer was only for conventionally bred hybrids. The Ministry let us know what crop seeds would be acceptable to their farmers. In a letter to Monsanto, the Ministry said:

“Thank you for Monsanto’s generous offer to donate Vegetable seeds and Hybrid maize seeds to benefit the Haitian farmers.  The vegetable seeds have been tested in Haiti previously and are well accepted by the farmers. They will definitely contribute to an increase in vegetable production in Haiti.”

“We informed the Haitian Ministry of Agriculture that certain seeds would have a fungicidal treatment on them. Fungicidal seed treatments are often applied to seeds prior to planting to protect them from fungal diseases that arise in the soil and hamper the plant’s ability to germinate and grow. The treatments also provide protection against diseases the seed might pick up in transfer between countries. Seed treatments are commonly used in agriculture worldwide. The Ministry continued to be supportive, offering the following:

“Let me also thank you for the information about the seed treatments for the Monsanto Hybrids. The products listed are used everyday in Haitian agriculture and should pose no problem.”

They continued “some of the vegetable seed products Monsanto donated were already grown in Haiti. That, coupled with our consultation with the Ministry of Agriculture, gave us confidence that farmers would welcome and benefit from the donation. There are no contractual obligations between Haitian farmers and Monsanto since this is a donation. In fact, there are no business transactions at all between Monsanto and Haitian farmers in regards to these seeds. Monsanto is earning no revenue from this donation”.

So there we have it. . New day, new problems! Is USAID and Monsanto’s potential poison pill for Haiti designed to the make the island nation into a slave colony once again, except this time they won’t be slaves for France, but rather for Monsanto and corporate agribusiness!

About the Author

Dr. Patrick Treacy won \\\”Professional Journalist of the Year\\\” in 2003 for his award winning column \\\”The Cutting Edge\\\” published weekly in the Irish Medical Times. His lecture series on minor surgery was published in Modern Medicine of Ireland Dr. Treacy is a cosmetic columnist with Ireland\\\’s Rejuvenate Cosmetic Surgery Magazine, Health & Living Magazine as well as the UK Aesthetic Medicine and MediSpa Destinations Magazines. Dr. Treacy is regularly invited to speak about Cosmetic Medicine on Irish breakfast television (TV3), RTE TV and Discovery Health and has been an expert panelist with the BBC World Services on many occasions.

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