Resources

Resources takes a critical look at the publications of interest to Seedling readers.

Living with the Fluid Genome
By Mae-Wan Ho, ISIS/TWN

This book beckons us to “find out what it means to be liberated from the genetic determinist myth, and to be living with the fluid genome”. It tells the story of how geneticists came face to face with scientific findings that completely undercut the genetic determinist paradigm. It is a science book, but Wan-Ho makes a good attempt at making it accessible to those with a limited science background. The book focuses most on explaining why genetic engineering will fail to give its promised results from a scientific perspective, but also examines how and why science that goes against the Watson and Crick model of heredity (see p 7) is being suppressed and misrepresented. The book also talks about the mechanics of genetic engineering, the problem of horizontal gene flow and explains what makes the genome ‘fluid' rather than static, as it is often represented.

Price: £10 including postage

Web: www.i-sis.org.uk/onlinestore.php#books

Email:

Local Seed Systems for Genetic Conservation and Sustainable Agriculture Sourcebook
Edited by Pamela Fernandez et al, Mercado, UPLB-CA, 2002, 678pp.

This sourcebook is a collection of symposium presentations, field visit discussions, workshop outputs and exhibit materials from a 10-day National Congress on Local Seed Systems for Genetic Conservation and Sustainable Agriculture in the Philippines held in April 2001. The congress brought together a diverse group of would-be practitioners, practitioners and advocates of sustainable agriculture throughout the Philippines.
The diversity in experiences is highlighted in more than 30 concrete grassroots experiences and ground level initiatives on sustainable agriculture presented in the congress and contained in the sourcebook. Although some sect-ions are written in mixed English-Filipino language, readers can still get some valuable insights from the discussions and exchanges during the field visits and workshops which were also captured in the sourcebook. Readers may find information on some of the issues affecting sustainable agriculture a bit out to date, but overall the sourcebook offers a wealth of information for sustainable agriculture practitioners and advocates alike. It will be especially valuable to those who are involved in grassroots works and just beginning to shift to more sustainable farming systems. The sourcebook is a bit bulky (more than 650 pages!) but it is also available in CD format at half the paper price (8 US$).

Price: Php1,000 - (approx. US$ 20)

Email:

Fax: +63 49 536 2468

Conservation and Sustainable Use of Agricultural Biodiver-sity: A Source Book
By CIP-UPWARD, 2002, 3 volumes,

This simple and easy-to-read sourcebook was designed for rural development practitioners, local administrators, trainers and educationalists involved in agricultural biodiversity related work. It provides a snapshot of some of the local and institutional initiatives worldwide. Though very much geared towards crops and cropping systems, the book also addresses aquatic and livestock resources. A section is also devoted to introducing readers to some of the policy and legal frameworks affecting the conservation and sustainable use of agricultural biodiversity, although the impact of emerging technologies such as genetic engineering has not been covered. The sourcebook consists of 75 articles packaged in three volumes: 1) understanding agricultural biodiverity, 2) strengthening local management of agricultural biodiversity, and 3) ensuring an enabling environment for agricultural biodiversity. Articles can also be accessed via the web at www.eseap.cipotato.org/upward/ Abstract/Agrobio-sourcebook.htm.
This sourcebook was produced by the Users' Perspectives With Agricultural Research and Development (UPWARD) Netw-ork of the International Potato Center (CIP), in partnership with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), International Development Res-earch Centre (IDRC) of Canada, International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI) and Southeast Asia Regional Initiatives for Community Empowerment (SEARICE).

Price: US$ 15, excluding postage.

Email:

Fax: +63 49 536 0235 or +63 49 536 1662

CGIAR: Sowing the Seeds of Discontent
By MASIPAG, 2003

This 27-minute video showcases the events which unfolded during the People's Street Conference organised by MASIPAG and RESIST (Resistance and Solidarity Against Agrochemical Transnational Corporations) alongside the 2nd Annual General Meeting of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) in the Philippines in October 2002 (see Seedling, January 2003, p 25). With strong support from peasant groups, people's movements, students and other local and international organisations, the street conference demonstrated the discontent felt by these groups towards the CGIAR. The video introduces viewers to some of the impacts the CGIAR has had on farming communities in particular and food security in general.

Price: $US 3 to cover the cost of reproduction and handling

Email:

Fax: +63 49 536 5549

Agri-Culture: Reconnecting people, land and nature
By Jules Pretty, Earthscan, 2002, 261 pp.

Jules Pretty's latest book envisages the expansion of a new form of food production and consumption founded on ecological principles and embedded in the cultures of the producers themselves. Pretty has made a deliberate attempt to make this more of an essay than a text book, in order to popularise the issues more widely. The text is engaging and easy to read without becoming ‘fluffy', and much hard data has been relegated to a comprehensive ‘notes' section at the end of the book. Familiar Pretty themes dominate the book (such as dispelling myths about the low productivity of biodiverse farming systems – see p 5), but he extends the discussion to address the wider context of the global food system.
The book starts by emphasising the importance of agricultural landscapes to communities all around the world, reminding us that agriculture's roots are in both ‘agri' and ‘culture'. He moves on to talk about “monoscapes” and how industrial agriculture marginalises poor in particular, and brings together some staggering statistics to illustrate the real costs of our current food system. Pretty then goes on to talk about the myriad of benefits sustainable agriculture offers, and the need to reconnect whole food systems and develop social learning systems to increase ecological literacy (see p 23). The text is supported throughout by concrete and convincing examples of how individuals and communities around the world are turning conventional farming wisdom on its head and transforming the food system.
Pretty concludes by saying, “There really is no alternative to the radical reform of national agricultural, rural and food policies, and institutions. The need is urgent, and this not the time to hesitate. The time has come for the next agricultural revolution.” His book makes such dramatic transformation seem possible, rather than merely a nice idea.

Price: £10

Web: www.earthscan.co.uk/

Email:

Fax: +44 20 7278 1142

Eldis – A gateway to development information

Eldis (www.eldis.org) is an internet-based information service which provides filtered, structured information on development and environment related subjects to, and from, practitioners, activists, academics and policy makers around the world. For many in the south accessing the internet is difficult, slow and expensive. The Eldis website is designed with this in mind providing quick fast access through to the latest information. Regular subject focused bulletins provide updates by email meaning that users don't have to spend long periods online.
The core of Eldis is a vast database of over 12,000 editorially selected and summarised online documents from over 4,500 development and environment related organisations. But Eldis isn't just a library. From agricultural policy reform to critical commentaries on World Bank strategy the Eldis team structures this information into subject-based guides on more than 25 major policy areas. Features provide analysis on topical issues with links to the key resources and country profiles allow users to access regionally specific information on a range of issues.
Equally important to the Eldis team is that research produced by organisations in the south gets out to as wide an audience as possible. To facilitate this Eldis is involved in a range of partnerships with organisations of all shapes and sizes. If you would like to now more about how you can get your own research featured on Eldis please email Recent Eldis highlights:
FEATURE: GM food aid in Southern Africa: www.eldis.org/food
BIODIVERSITY: Nature, wealth, and power : emerging best practice for
revitalizing rural Africa: www.eldis.org/biodiversity
TRADE: Weaknesses in the current global agriculture trade agreement:
www.eldis.org/trade
IPR: Is a world patent system on the way? www.eldis.org/ipr

From the April 2003 issue of Seedling

The Seeds of Kokopelli – A manual for the production of seeds in the family garden.

By Dominique Guillet.

The 3rd edition of “The Seeds of Kokopelli” is larger than ever with 500 pages of information containing 700 photos, of which 545 are in full colour. This extraordinary book explores in detail more than 2,500 varieties of vegetables, including 600 tomatoes, 400 peppers, 200 marrows (squash), 130 lettuces, 80 melons, 50 aubergines (eggplants) and many more. Each family is described historically and the book provides guidelines on how to grow in the garden, how to pollinate and how to gather seeds. Descriptions are meticulous and the large number of varieties is extraordinary. But most of all, what really brings this book together are the bright photos of just some of the varieties, a few of which we have included here (though we cannot do justice to). The varieties listed in the book are also for sale, which are all for sale at 2.50 Euros per packet ($2.50). Professional producers who are endorsed by organic organisations produce these seeds.

The Kokopelli Association was set up in 1999 to replace an organisation called Terre de Semences, which was forcibly closed down by the French authorities for breaching impossible-to-implement French seed legislation. The “Decree of 1997” established a National Catalogue of “old varieties for amateur gardeners”. But for a variety to be listed it had to be proved that the variety was more than 15 years old and shown to be distinctive, uniform and stable through field experiments. Furthermore, a registration fee of about 230 Euros (US$ 230) was required for each variety. Despite the closure of Terre de Semences, Kokopelli continues to promote and distribute old varieties of seeds. Much of its work is illegal and it does not receive subsidies from governments, yet this latest book shows that the saving and distribution of organic varieties of vegetable will continue in Europe. Kokopelli also provides seeds from these varieties throughout the South free of charge. In 2002, Kokopelli distributed seeds to Afghanistan, Brazil, Morocco and Senegal. Kokopelli also help set up the Annadana Project for the production and exchange of seeds in southern Asia, and is also working with the organisation Terre et Humanisme in Niger and Burkina Faso.

To find out more about Kokopelli or to buy the book, visit the Kokopelli website (www.kokopelli.asso.fr) or the Terre de Semences website which is still running (www.terredesemences.com). Both websites are in English. The websites also contain a lot of the information in this book and an online catalogue to purchase these numerous varieties. Or write to Association Kokopelli, Oasis, 131 impasse des Palmiers, 30100 Alès,

Tel +33 4 66 30 64 91,

Fax: +33 4 66 30 61 21,

Email :

Invisible Giant – Cargill and it's Transnational Strategies

By Brewster Kneen

Heard of Cargill? Do you know what the company does? Do you know how big it is or anything about its turnover? No? Well, that's not surprising. Cargill is the largest private company in the world, with over 80,000 employees in more than 70 countries and its fingers in food, agriculture, finances and industrial production. But real figures are not really known, and little can be found out about Cargill, as there is no legal requirement for a private company to publish audited accounts. Yet this book tries to see through the fog and draw a detailed picture this invisible giant. Although it is obvious that Brewster Kneen is not a big fan of transnational companies, this book is written with a balanced approach, even giving credit to Cargill where astute business decisions were taken. But overall the picture that emerges is of a secretive business playing an important role – up front and behind the scenes – in the continued globalisation of industrial agriculture. As its vice-president said in 1993: “Breaking the poverty cycle means shifting from subsistence agriculture to commercialised agriculture. Subsistence agriculture locks peasants out of income growth; it leaves populations outside food-trading systems and therefore more vulnerable to crop disasters, and it harms the environment through overuse of fragile land resources”. Kneen puts it a different way, “The arch enemy of Cargill is subsistence agriculture, self-provisioning, self reliance, or whatever you want to call the alternative to being incorporated into its growing global system of dependency”.

But what does Cargill actually do? The book goes into great detail of what Cargill does and where, providing examples and stories where relevant. Kneen has obviously researched this book thoroughly, not only through library and internet searches, but also through visiting individuals, from Cargill employees to their chief executives, and their sites around the world. The book covers the wide range of commodities that Cargill is involved with: livestock, cotton, peanut, malting, oilseeds, soybeans, maize, wheat, fertilisers, fruit juices, seeds and salt. It also covers ‘invisible' commodities like ‘speculation' and ‘risk management' of its financial activities and commodities, transport and storage. In addition, Kneen has chapters on the different regions where Cargill works, including North America, Latin America, and Asia.

Invisible Giant was first published in 1995 and this is the second edition. The seriousness with which Kneen has approached updating the book is reflected in the fact that about half the references are new. Between these editions, Cargill has been evolving, fitting into new markets, withdrawing from others and taking public subsidies wherever possible. But what hasn't changed is its ideology. As Kneen says, “Its structure and business are contradictory to decentralisation and self-provisioning. Cargill deals in volume, and to get sufficient volume in both buying and selling it has to do business transnationally and industrially. In other words, it is a matter of both scale and mode of operation, and there is a definite threshold beneath which a company like Cargill cannot function even if it wanted to. Therein lies the key to resistance and the pursuit of alternatives”.

Invisible Giant is available from most bookshops, including those on the Internet. Also available from the Ram's Horn: Canadian $30 includes postage from:

Mail: The Ram's Horn, S-6, C-27, RR #1, Sorrento, BC V0E 2W0, Canada.

Email:

Tel. and fax: +1 250 675 4866,

You can also obtain details here about the Ram's Horn, a useful monthly journal with an analysis of global food systems written in a personal and easy-to-read manner.

Ecoagriculture: Strategies to feed the world and save wild biodiversity

By Jeffrey McNeely and Sara Scherr, Island Press, 323pp

In Ecoagriculture, the authors examine the idea that agricultural landscapes can be designed more creatively to take the needs of human populations into account while also protecting, or even enhancing, biodiversity. The book examines the global impact of agriculture on wild biodiversity, describes the challenge of reconciling biodiversity conservation and agricultural goals, presents numerous case studies of how ecoagriculture works, and explores how policies, markets, and institutions can be re-shaped to support agriculture. This thorough and well researched book makes a compelling case for a win-win approach to food production and biodiversity conservation.

Price: $55 (cloth), $27.50 (paper-back)

Web: www.islandpress.org

Email:

Fax: +1 202 234 1328

Mail: +1 202 232 7933

FAO BioDeC: Biotechnologies in Developing Countries

The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has launched FAO-BioDeC, a “searchable data-base meant to gather, store, organise, and disseminate updated baseline information on the state-of-the-art of crop biotechnology products and techniques which are in use, or in the pipeline, in developing countries.” As of April 2003, the database contained about 2,000 entries from 70 developing countries, including countries with economies in transition. The database is easy to use and useful for getting a quick snapshot of what technologies are being developed and tested in different countries. Most entries are in English, but some information is also provided in Arabic, Chinese, French, and Spanish. The database is currently in its initial stage, but FAO promises that information will be updated and verified regularly. During a second phase, the database will be expanded to include entries related to animal, fisheries, and forestry biotechnology.

The database can be accessed online at: www.fao.org/biotech/inventory_admin/dep/

Gene Wars: The Politics of Biotechnology

By Kristin Dawkins, Seven Stories Press, 84pp

This second edition of Gene Wars, according to Dawkins, required so much updating that – six years later – it is almost new. This slim little pocket book is an introduction to the policies that are shaping the future of plants, food and food systems. Written largely for the North American audience, the book clearly outlines the nuts and bolts of the policies and practices that have already drastically changed the way in which food is produced and those who control it. It contains a number of anecdotes to illustrate how fast the world is changing, such as when Jonas Salk, inventor of the polio vaccine, was asked decades ago who would control the new product, he replied, “Well, the people I would say. There is no patent. Could you patent the sun?” Now there's an idea …

Copies available at on-line bookstores, priced $6.95 or from:

Email:

Web: www.iatp.org

Fax: +1 612 870 4846

Tel: +1 612 870 3410

Mail: Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, 2105 First Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55404 USA

From the January 2003 issue of Seedling

Biodiversity and Traditional Knowledge: Equitable partnerships in practice

By Sarah Laird, Earthscan, 2002

Edited by Sarah Laird, an established authority on biodiversity and forest conservation, this book offers guidance on how to arrive at equitable biodiversity research and prospecting partnerships. The chapters make up more of practical manual than a readable book for the various parties interested in establishing such partnerships – academics (research) and commercial organisations (prospecting) on the one hand, and indigenous populations and communities who hold much of the associated traditional knowledge on the other.

The book provides a wealth of experiences from 16 authors with backgrounds in academia, government institutions, legal consultancies and NGOs. With frequent references to the CBD (Convention on Biological Diversity), national access and benefit sharing regulations, institutional policies, statements and declarations, this books draws on a wide remit to establish what frameworks can be used for equitable partnerships, and even how to define what is “fair” and “equitable” and their relationship with benefit sharing. This book is part of the People and Plants initiative by WWF, UNESCO and the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew in London, UK – “an initiative to enhance the role of communities in efforts to conserve biodiversity and use natural resources” (www.rbgkew.org/peopleplants/).

Section I deals with the “ethical envelope” surrounding research and fieldwork projects. It notes that the post-CBD environment calls for greater stakeholder control, which in turn means increased complexities for the researcher. The authors remark on the insufficiency of academic norms and professional research bodies to address ethical issues in biodiversity research. Since researchers are not involved in policymaking, field experiences do not get internalised in law and policy, which limits their effectiveness. And with abstract benefits perceived from biodiversity research, governments from the South are more inclined to refuse research outright for fear of biopiracy. Such a climate puts increased obligations on the researcher to make clear the ethical framework of their work. The section closes with an interesting chapter on “giving back” – returning research studies and data in a form relevant to local groups and applied conservation, be it oral or written.

Section III addresses the problematic interface of community and researchers, dealing with prior informed consent (PIC) & research agreements. It states pragmatically that, “The wider the cultural gap (between external research agents and local/rural communities), the harder it is to obtain genuine PIC”. As a result, it calls for “enculturation, including linguistic competence, and genuine respect and concern” as absolute prerequisites for PIC.

Section IV addresses the commercial use of biodiversity and traditional knowledge. The chapter is eager to point out that its intention “is not to promote commercial use per se, but to contribute to wider understanding of the mechanics of biodiversity prospecting so that when commercial use takes place, it is informed and according to current best practise.” It continues by briefly reviewing current “best” practice in benefit sharing in selected sectors. “Corporate steps towards standards of best practise” discusses Material Transfer Agreements and corporate policies. The authors suggest that the more information is given out, the better informed access and benefit sharing will be.

The chapters are sprinkled with more than 20 case studies, boxes and photographs. At the end, the book gives an elaborate directory of useful contacts and resources including details of governmental, inter-governmental and non-governmental organisations dealing with biodiversity issues.

Price: £24.95 paperback (£22.95 web special price)

Web: www.earthscan.co.uk/newtitles.htm or write to

Email: [email protected]

Fax: +44 207 278 1142

Mail: Earthscan Publications Ltd, 120 Pentonville Road, London N1 9JN, UK.

Wild Law

by Cormac Cullinan, Siber Ink with the Gaia Foundation, London and EnAct International, Cape Town, 2002

Cormac Cuillinan is an environmental lawyer from South Africa who came up with the idea of a network to promote Earth Jurisprudence (see box). Wild Law is a remarkable book which takes an analytical look at our current legal and governance systems and asks us to reconsider the basis for our modern legal systems. Written from a personal perspective, Cormac brings together a large number of new, and to some radical, ideas. The main theory, on which the book is based, is that the proof that our legal systems do not work can be seen in the deteriorating condition of the earth. “The problem is not simply that our laws need refining to be effective…. Our legal and political establishments perpetuate, protect and legitimise the continued degradation of the Earth by design, not by accident.”

Chapters look at differing aspects of our current governance and legal systems, some of which will be particularly interesting to readers of Seedling. For example the chapter on rights claims that our current systems only provide rights to humans, and then only to certain cultures. “The issue is not, as is so often conceived, deciding whether or not we humans should deign to grant rights to other species or to the environment. (They already have them, but they are invisible to our legal system because it cannot conceive of them.) The challenge is rather to re-conceptualise and develop the philosophical basis on which we organise and regulate our species so that it accords more closely with the reality of an interconnected universe of subjects.“ Another chapter looks at the way in which land is owned by people – in the same way that an object may be bought and sold. Many more aspects of governance are explored in detail, and are brought together towards the end in the form of action that can be taken which shows that Earth jurisprudence does work and what can be done to promote it. This promote it. This book is most important in that it questions the very foundations of our legal systems, and points out that we need to completely overhaul of the way we perceive our laws and environment.

Price: R180.00

Web:www.oneworldbooks.com/books/WILD_LAW.html

Email: [email protected]

Fax: +27 (021) 701-7302

Mail: Blue Weaver Marketing, PO Box 30370, Tokai, 7966 South Africa.

Redesigning Life? The world-wide challenge to genetic engineering.

Edited by Brian Tokar, Zed Books, 2001, 440pp

Edited by Brian Tokar, this book brings together a number of activists, academics, and scientists, including those from the biotechnology industry itself. For example one woman who once worked for Dupont expressed her “ever-growing disillusionment [which] culminated in the realisation that biotechnology is big business”. The central theme of this book is that biotechnology will lead to more environmental problems, provide new hazards to our health and raise many ethical questions. Furthermore, biotechnology appears to only serve the interests of big business, having little to do with the real needs of society or the environment. Divided into 31 chapters, the book is based on four themes: our health, our food and the environment; medicine, genetics, science and human rights; patents, corporate power and the theft of knowledge and resources; and the worldwide resistance to genetic engineering. This last chapter brings examples of successful campaigns against the introduction of genetically modified organisms including Canadian resistance to recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH), about the activities of the Seed Satygrapha in India, European hostility to genetically modified organisms, and the use of cooperatives to strengthen communities for protection from “profit-hungry corporations”. The global perspective on a wide range of issues related to genetic engineering offered by this book is made the more interesting by the different writing styles and backgrounds of each author.

Web: www.zedbooks.demon.co.uk

Email:[email protected]

Fax: +44 207 833 3960

Mail: Zed Books, 7 Cynthia Street, London N1 9JF, UK.

Golden Rice – and exercise in how not to do science

By Mae Wan Ho, Third World Network Biotechnology & Biosafety Series 6

This short booklet launches an assault on all aspects of Golden Rice, the genetically modified rice engineered to produce pro-vitamin A. “'Golden Rice' is a useless application…This project should be abandoned altogether.” The booklet asks why Golden Rice was produced in the first place and shows how many of the reasons given were misplaced. The next chapters provide extraordinary detail of the gene constructs in Golden Rice, and shows the problems associated with the technology, concluding that Golden Rice is not a technical improvement and is unsafe.

Web:www.twnside.org.sg/title/twr118f.htm

Email: [email protected]

Fax: +604 2264 505

Mail: Third World Network, 121-S, Jalan Utama, 10450 Penang, Malaysia.

Intellectual Property, Biodiversity and Sustainable Development

By Martin Khor, Zed Books and Third World Network, 2002

Martin Khor looks at the impact of intellectual property rights on the rights of local communities, consumers and the environment. This well-written book examines in particular the TRIPS agreement of the World Trade Organisation and the rights of people over their knowledge and resources - in particular the misappropriation of traditional knowledge by corp-orations. The book is an excellent summary of the main aspects of intellectual property rights and biodiversity.

Price: $15.00 (includes mailing) Web:www.twnside.org.sg/title/ipr5.htm

Email: [email protected]

Fax: +604 2264 505

Mail: Third World Network, 121-S, Jalan Utama, 10450 Penang, Malaysia.

Agrobiodiversity in Andhra Pradesh – a Farmers' Perspective

By DDS and the AP Coalition in Defence of Diversity.

Written in both English and Telugu (a local language in Andhra Pradesh), this report challenges the conventional notion that rice dominates the region. Andhra Pradesh is home to several varieties and species of millet, pulses, oilseeds, spices and hundreds of vegetables. On top of this, and despite the Green Revolution, the area also produces an abundance of varieties of rice too, which are steadily being replaced by the monocultures of a few laboratory varieties. The report came out of a number of workshops in three regions of Andhra Pradesh: Telengana, Rayalaseema and Coas-tal Andhra. At each workshop, farmers gave accounts of the status of their agricultural biodiversity, and these have been reproduced in this book. The annex contains a table listing all the species found their cultivation both today and 30 years ago.

Web: www.ddsindia.com,

Email: [email protected]

Fax: +91 40 277 647 44

Mail: DDS, Flat No. 101, Kishan Residency, 1-11-242/1, Street No. 5, Shyamlal Buildings Area, Begumpet, Hyderabad – 500 016, Andhra Pradesh, India.

Ancient Roots, New Shoots – Endogenous Development in Practice

Edited by Bertus Haverkort, Katrien van‘t Hooft and Wim Hiemstra. Compas, 2002.

Compas is an international network of NGOs that supports initiative, through “action research” for endogenous development. Endogenous development is descr-ibed as “development from within” which is based on local initiatives to use resources, such as improving local knowledge and practices, local control of development options, and training and capacity building (amongst others). This book presents the results of Compas activities from 1997 to 2002. Local resources, cosmovisions, cultural diversity and co-evolution are central concepts. The book also tries to bring in some aspects of culture which are often ignored by scientists, such as religion and spirituality. Overall an interesting read, packed with experiences from rural and agricultural communities around the world, with full colour photos as a bonus.

Web: www.compas-network.org

Email: [email protected]

Fax: +31 33 494 0791

Mail: Compas, PO Box 64, 3830 AB Leusden, The Netherlands.

From the October 2002 issue of Seedling

Genetic engineering

The Seeds of Neo-Colonialism: Genetic engineering in food and farming

By Elfrieda Pschorn-Strauss & Rachel Wynberg, 2002, Groundwork South Africa and Biowatch.

This booklet, one of five in a series, looks at the introduction of genetically modified (GM) crops in South Africa. In an easy to read format and available in PDF format on the Internet, this publication would suit general distribution within Africa on the issues that South Africans face on the introduction of GM crops. South Africa is a “gateway to Africa for agribusiness” with huge increases in GM crops being planted – in 2000 there was a 50% increase in the area planted in one year. This year marks the first time that a GM staple food crop has been planted: white maize. A map of South Africa also accompanies this booklet with details of where the GM crops are being planted, including apple trees, cotton, oilseed rape (canola), eucalyptus trees, maize, potato, soybean, sweet potato, tomato and wheat. A chapter titled “Preparing the battleground” also looks at the alternatives, both in South Africa and abroad.

Web: http://www.groundwork.org.za/ Publications/booklets.htm; Email: [email protected]

Mail: Groundwork, PO Box 2375, Pietermaritzburg, 3200, South Africa.

Phone: +27 33 342 5662; Fax: +27 33 342 5665

The world as a testing ground – risks of genetic engineering in agriculture

By Hivos and FOEI, 2002, Hivos (Humanist Institute for Development Cooperation) & FOEI (Friends of the Earth International).

This little booklet provides concise, disturbing, and scary, evidence of the real risks of the release of genetically modified plants in different countries. The first country, Mexico, describes succinctly the GM contamination of maize which is described as “a major disaster”. The Canadian article provides details of the Percy Schmeiser case, India talks mainly about Bt Cotton, and Bolivia about GM potatoes. The Brazil article provides important details of the spread of contaminated soybeans in Rio Grande do Sul, a state which has banned the planting of GM crops. Contamination comes from the illegal growing of GM soybeans which have been smuggled in from Argentina. By bringing together general information about GE crops from around the world, this makes a perfect booklet to highlight the issues with all audiences. Available in both English and Spanish from:

Web:http://www.hivos.nl/down loads/testgroundeng.pdf

Mail: Hivos, Raamway 16, 2596 HL Den Haag, The Netherlands.

Phone: + 31 70 376 55 00

Fax: + 31 70 362 46 00

Genetically modified and cloned animals. All in a good cause?

by Jay Rutovitz & Sue Mayer, 2002, Genewatch UK.

Based on the UK, this report looks at the genetic modification and cloning of animals, not only for agriculture but also for biological and medical research, safety testing and drug production. Indeed, agricultural use of these animals is a relatively small area of research on genetic modification compared to biological and medical research. Some of the purposes of genetically modifying animals for agriculture include: faster or leaner growth in cattle, pigs, rabbits & sheep; altered milk composition in cattle and goats; reduced phosphorous in pig faeces; increased wool growth on sheep; disease resistance in pigs, sheep and rabbits. The report questions firstly whether transgenic growth enhancement is really necessary and secondly whether the welfare of the animal is compromised. The report is quick to dismiss the excuses for the use of transgenic animals; e.g. they will help feed an increasing world population and that the technology will improve to overcome problems of welfare. Indeed the report shows quite clearly that the use of transgenic animals, with the possible exception of disease resistance, will benefit no one. “Genewatch does not consider that any of the agricultural applications are sufficiently imperative to justify the use of GM technology or the cost to the animals involved.”

Web: http://www.genewatch.org

Email: [email protected]

Mail: Genewatch, Tideswell, Bux-ton, Derbyshire, SK17 8LN, UK.

Phone: + 44 1298 871898,

Fax : + 44 1298 872531

IPR

Integrating Intellectual Property Rights and Development Policy.

By the UK Commission on Intellectual Property Rights, 2002, DFID.

In May 2001, the British government set up a Commission to look at how intellectual property rights (IPR) might work better for poor people and developing countries. Eighteen months later, it has produced a 180-page report that challenges conventional thinking about patents for the developing world. The report says concludes that the internationally-mandated expansion of intellectual property rights is unlikely to generate significant benefits for most developing countries and likely to impose costs, such as higher priced medicines or seeds. This makes poverty reduction more difficult. The report also calls on developed nations, the World Trade Organisation and the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) to take the circumstances of poor countries and their development needs properly into account when seeking to develop international IPR systems.

According to the report, “The voice of developing countries and, in particular, consumers needs to be better heard and the decisions taken better informed by evidence of the impact of IPR in those countries…WIPO must give explicit recognition to both the benefits and the costs of intellectual property protection for developing nations.” While the analysis in the report is excellent, the recommendations are weak and seem to be at odds with the report's findings. Good ideas, but no teeth.

Web: http://www.iprcommission.org

Email: [email protected]

Mail: Commission on Intellectual Property Rights (CIPR), c/o Department for International Development (DFID), 1 Palace Street, London SW1E 5HE, UK.

Phone: +44 20 7023 0000

Fax: +44 20 7023 0016 (for the attention of Charles Clift)

Sustainable Agriculture

Food for All – the need for a new agriculture

By John Madeley , 2002, Zed Books.

This nicely written book focuses on the production of food mainly by resource-poor farmers in the South. “Central to the approach of this book is the conviction that there is a pattern of agriculture and a wider economic order that can and will provide food for all.” Chapter two concludes that industrial agriculture “has no moral right to be considered a model for Third World countries to follow”. The book goes on to outline changes that could offer hope and food for the hungry, in quite some detail. Madeley focuses on the different types of sustainable agriculture and how this is making policy makers more aware, quick-fix technologies, water and land, women, credit, rural development, trade, the impact on the environment, and the use of livestock. This book was written with the policy-maker in mind, to demonstrate that alternatives to industrial agriculture do exist and do work, to everyone's benefit.

“In May 2001, the World Bank website contained details of a new report outlining a new solution to the biodiversity extinction, called ‘eco-agriculture', which seeks to help farmers, most urgently those living in or near biodiversity hotspots, to grow more food while conserving habitats critical to wildlife'. The approach ‘dramatically breaks with both traditional conservation policies and common agriculture techniques'. …The fact that the World Bank presents eco-agriculture as a ‘new solution' speaks volumes, for this type of agriculture has been practised by millions of resource-poor farmers for centuries.

Web: www.zedbooks.demon.co.uk

EMail:[email protected]

Mail: Zed Books, 7 Cynthia Street, London N1 9JF, UK. Price: £9.99 or US$17.50 for the paperback.

Phone: +44 171 837 4014

Fax : +44 171 833 3960

Forgotten Farmers: small farmers, trade and sustainable agriculture

By Kevin Bundell, 2002, Christian Aid, UK.

This message of this report is blunt: “Those who champion trade liberalisation in agriculture are not taking account of the real and present needs and conditions of poor farmers and their communities. Nor are they considering the future. Many of the rural poor will have to produce food for themselves and their families for decades yet to come, and will need assistance in doing so”. This report shows how farmers working with Christian Aid partners (based on studies in Bolivia, Kenya, India, and Tanzania) are using “sustainable agriculture” (which is closely defined) to “feed their families and communities” and “to manage their livelihood vulnerability in the face of the myriad environmental, economic and even social risks they face”. The first section of this report provides an overview of sustainable agriculture, poverty in developing countries, the problems with trade liberalisation and small farmers, and a list of conclusions and recommendations. The second section describes five cases from the countries mentioned above, with details of the practices being used to encourage and use sustainable agriculture.

Web:www.christianaid.org.uk/indepth/ 0206farm/index.htm

Email: [email protected]

Mail : Christian Aid, 35 Lower Marsh, Waterloo, London, SE1 7RL, UK

Phone: +44 20 7620 4444

Fax: +44 20 7620 0719

World agriculture: towards 2015/2030

By the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, 2002.

This report presents the latest assessment by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of long-term developments in world food, nutrition and agriculture, including the forestry and fisheries sectors. The projections cover about 140 countries and 32 crop and livestock commodities. Most notable among the topics covered is the “role of technology”, which spells out FAO's new-found love of biotechnology. It says that: “Modern biotechnology offers promise as a means to improving food security. If the environmental threats from biotechnology are addressed, and if the technology is affordable by and geared towards the needs of the poor and undernourished, genetically modified crop varieties could help to sustain farming in marginal areas and to restore degraded lands to production. To address the concerns of consumers FAO called for improved testing and safety protocols for genetically modified organisms.” The Summary Report is a shorter version of the results of the technical FAO study of the same name, which should be available by the end of 2002.

The report is also available in English, French and Spanish. FAO has sales agents in most countries. Contact FAO below to find out where to get a copy locally.

Web: http://www.fao.org/docrep/004/ y3557e/y3557e00.htm

Email: [email protected]

Mail: Sales and Marketing Group, Information Division, FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00100 Rome, Italy.

Fax: +39 06 5705 3360

By Nicholas Parrott & Terry Marsden, 2002, Greenpeace.

Another publication showing the potential benefits of sustainable agriculture, or as this 147 page book says “organic and agroecological approaches (OAA)”, in the South. With case studies from around the world, such farming practices are shown to be successful “in meeting a range of diverse objectives: improving yields, food security, farmers' income and health status, and revising established patterns of land degradation”. Although “the evidence in this report suggests that there is a rapidly growing interest in the South in the potential of OAA”, the report does admit that “de facto organic” and agroecological farming “are much more widely practised than the formal organic approach, although there is no reliable means of estimating by how much”. One chapter explores the main benefits and obstacles to the uptake of OAA including, amongst others: production, soil fertility, pest and diseases, markets, and certification (organic). An excellent contribution to show that sustainable agriculture does work.

Web: http://archive.greenpeace.org/ ~geneng/highlights/hunger/greenrev.htm,

Email: [email protected]

Mail: Greenpeace International GE Campaign, Chausseestr. 131, 10115 Berlin, Germany.

Agricultural subsidies and unfair trade

Rigged Rules and Double Standards – Trade globalisation and the fight against poverty

Europe's Double Standards – How the EU should reform its trade policies with the developing world

The Great EU Sugar Scam – How Europe's sugar regime is devastating livelihoods in the developing world,

Cultivating Poverty – The impact of US cotton subsidies on Africa

All by Oxfam UK, 2002.

Farmgate – the developmental impact of agricultural subsidies

By ActionAid, 2002.

A number of reports have been recently published on unfair trade. The first one here, Rigged rules and double standards, was the launch report for a three year campaign on fair trade by Oxfam, one of the biggest development organisations in the world. Oxfam promotes the use of trade – fair trade not free trade – to help eliminate poverty. Low-income developing countries account for more than 40% of the world population yet are involved in less than 3% of world trade. Oxfam calculated that by increasing this trade by only a small percentage, the benefits would be much more than all the combined aid and debt relief provided by more wealthy countries. Although Oxfam is in favour of trade, increased trade in itself does not automatically lift people out of poverty, and current rules are rigged in favour of the rich. When accompanied by effective economic policies, trade can be a powerful force for change. Although the report is very interesting, of equal interest are the discussions that have been sparked from all sides, including the World Trade Organisation and the European Union on the one side and several NGOs on the other. For example Walden Bello, Executive Director of Focus on the Global South, says that the report “provides the wrong focus and wrong direction for the movement against corporate-driven globalisation during this critical period”. The reasons he gives are that, “First of all, the focus on market access misleads people into believing that it is access to the markets of the North that is the central need and central problem of the global trading system” and “second, the market access focus does promote the paradigm of export-oriented growth”.

For a review of the ongoing discussions on the report visit:

http://www.foodfirst.org/media/ news/2002/oxfamips.html ,

http://www.foodfirst.org/media/ press/2002/oxfamreport.html

http://www.maketradefair.com/ stylesheet.asp?file=31052002130237

http://www.nowtoronto.com/issues/ 2002-06-20/news_story3.php

http://focusweb.org/publications/2002/ whats-wrong-with-the-oxfam-trade-campaign.html

Oxfam has also released a report on the injustice of US subsidies on cotton. Since the mid-1990s, the price of cotton has slumped and countries in Central and West Africa “have been devastated as a result”, especially in Burkina Faso, Mali and Benin. Much of this slump in prices is due to the enormous subsidies that the US provides to their cotton farmers. “America's cotton farmers receive more in subsidies than the entire GDP of Burkina Faso – a country in which more than two million people depend on cotton production. Half of these farmers live below the poverty line… In 2002, the US paid out double the amount of subsidies on cotton (US$ 3.9 billion) than ten years previously. This increase in subsidies is in breach of WTO rules and has led Brazil to challenge the US which could lead to the collapse of these policies.

ActionAid's report, Farmgate – the developmental impact of agricultural subsidies, analyses the agricultural subsidies in Europe provided for wheat and sugar production, and their impact on poorer countries. The report is written at time when “the next four years will determine whether governments in the developed world are willing to embrace development objectives in trade negotiations on agriculture. The WTO Agreement on Agriculture is currently being renegotiated and the EU's CAP will be reformed by 2006”. In a similar vein, Oxfam has produced two publications, one on Europe's double standards in trade and one specifically on the sugar trade. Sugar, one of the most subsidised agricultural products in the world, is examined in detail, though neither this Oxfam report nor the ActionAid report say anything new as little has changed with this commodity and little is likely to change in the near future. Still, both reports are full of up to date information, statistics and recommendations. The double standards report by Oxfam shows that Europe is pushing for countries to rapidly open up their markets and yet simultaneously maintaining barriers on its own imports and exporting subsidised produce. This paper, which is part of the Oxfam “Make Trade Fair” campaign (see p 34), is aimed at the EU legislators with recommendations of what they should do in the coming years.

Rigged rules and double standards is available on the web at http://www.maketradefair.com. All the other Oxfam reports are at http:// www.oxfam.org.uk/policy/html

Email: [email protected]

Mail: Oxfam Publishing, 274 Banb-ury Road, Oxford, OX2 7DZ, UK.

Phone: +44 1865 313744

Fax: +44 1865 313713

Farmgate is available from:

Web: www.actionaid.org/resources/pdfs/farmgate.pdf

Email: [email protected]

Mail: ActionAid, Hamlyn House, Macdonald Road, Archway, London N19 5PG, UK.

Phone: +44 20 7561 7561

Fax: +44 20 7272 0899

Reforming Global Trade in Agriculture: a developing-country perspective

By Shishir Priyadarshi, 2002, Carnegie Endowment for Inter-national Peace.

Reforming global trade in agriculture presents a picture of the increasing number of problems and inequalities with the Agreement on Agriculture (AOA) formed under the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 1994. Indeed the AOA “has engendered widespread dissatisfaction among all categories of developing countries whether they are agriculture exporters, food importers, single-commodity exporters, predominantly agrarian economies, or small-island developing states”. In particular, the surges of imports, after domestic barriers to trade have been removed, have caused the most problems with world's poorest countries. The paper provides details of changes that are needed and the steps that should be taken by industrialised countries, such as reducing excessive support for domestic products and improving market access for small single commodity exporters that are net importers of food, all of which are currently possible.

Available (English/Spanish) from:

Web:http://www.ceip.org/files/Publications/ TED_2.asp?from=pubdate

Email: [email protected]

Mail: 1779 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington DC 20036-2103, USA.

Phone: +1 202 483 7600

Fax: +1 202 483 1840

Genetic Resources

Seeding Solutions – Volume 2: Options for national laws governing control over genetic resources and biological innovations.

By The Crucible II Group, 2002, IDRC, IPGRI, DHF.

Back in the heady days of post-Rio enthusiasm for genetic resources, the Crucible Group was formed as a forum to bring together industry, NGOs and the public centre to provide a forum to debate the thorny issues around the management of genetic resources. The Crucible II Group is its more recent incarnation and describes itself as “a diverse gathering of individuals who passionately and respectfully disagree on intellectual property, the rights of farmers, the mechanisms for benefit sharing, and the appropriate structures for conservation”. Crucible II has produced a two volume set known as Seeding Solutions, which brings readers up to date on what has changed – scientifically, polit-ically, and environmentally – since the publication in 1994 of the People, Plants, and Patents. Seeding Solutions Volume 1, published in 2000, provided an update on the ownership, conservation and exchange of plant germplasm, and “why germplasm is important and how it relates to trade negotiations, intellectual property disputes, and national and international food and health security”. Volume 2, which followed in 2001, provides “a range of technical legal options that national policy-makers can use to inform their own thinking about how to address issues identified in Volume 1”. Three areas of national law are discussed: the regulation of access to biological resources, the protection of indigenous and local knowledge regarding biological resources, and biological innovations. It should be stressed that both volumes of Seeding Solutions were written with policy makers in mind, and that Volume 1 should be read before attempting to read Volume 2.

Available in French and Spanish, priced at Canadian $35.

Web:http://www.idrc.ca/acb/ showdetl.cfm?&DS_ID=2&Product_ID=2649&DID=6

Email: [email protected]

Mail: International Development Research Centre, PO Box 8500, Ottawa, Canada.

People and process

Participation in Practice: Case Studies from The Gambia

By David Brown, Mick Howes and others, 2002, ODI.

Participatory rural appraisal (PRA) has been hailed as a methodological revolution in people-centred res-earch. Yet, surprisingly, its virtues have more often been asserted than demonstrated. This book presents an independent investigation of the use of the methods, and analyses theextent to which PRA's ambitious claims are borne out in testing field conditions. Aimed atdevelopment practitioners in international and bilateral agencies, and in NGOs, as well as atstudents of development studies, the study emphasises the need for caution in the application ofinnovative research ideas to the complex realities of the developing world.

This 288-page book is available at the introductory price of UK £14.95 until the end of 2002 (UK £19.95 thereafter).

Web orders: http://www.odi.org.uk/publications/order.html

Email: [email protected]

Mail: ODI Publications, 111 Westminster Bridge Road, London SE1 7JD, UK.

Fax: +44 20 7922 0399

The Real Board of Directors: The construction of biotechnology policy in Canada, 1980 – 2002

By Devlin Kuyek, 2002, Ram's Horn

This 84-page report details the rise of the biotech industry in Canada. It goes into great detail about who did what and when, and how they, their company or government influenced the rise of biotechnology. The report deals only with Canada and will particularly appeal to North Americans. It tries to answer the baffling question of how did Canada – a modern democracy whose public opposes genetically modified crops – manage to wind up in a situation where 75% of it's food is genetically modified? The answer can be found in what the report descrbes as the “dominance of neo-liberalism”, government support of the industry, and the biotechnology policy-making process which is the “private domain” of a few.

Web: http://www.ramshorn.bc.ca/

Email: [email protected]

Phone/Fax: +1 250 675 4866

Mail: The Ram's Horn, S-6, C-27, RR#1, Sorrento, BC VOE 2WO, Canada.

From the July 2002 issue of Seedling

Prajateerpu: A Citizens' Jury / Scenario Workshop on Food Futures for Andhra Pradesh, India

2002

by Michel Pimbert and Tom Wakeford.

This is the report from the “citizens' jury” on food and farming futures in Andhra Pradesh (AP), India, which took place in June 2001. Prajateerpu was an exercise in “deliberative democracy” involving people from all three regions of the state of AP. The UK-based International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) were asked to facilitate a participatory process to encourage more public debate in policy choices on food futures in the state. The central component of this exercise was a citizens' jury made up of representatives of farmers from AP, small traders and food processors and consumers. To reflect the reality of rural AP, most of the jury members were small and marginal farmers and also included indigenous (known in India as adivasi) people. More than two thirds of the jury members were women.

The State of AP in South India is currently re-thinking its approach to farming, land use and marketing. The AP Government's vision of the future of the State's food system is presented in strategy papers and its so-called Vision 2020. Whilst fundamental and profound transformations of the food system are proposed in Vision 2020, there has been little or no involvement of small farmers and rural people in shaping this policy scenario. In the citizen's jury, members of the jury were presented with three different scenarios. Each was advocated by key opinion-formers who attempted to show the logic behind the scenario. It was up to the jury to decide which of the three scenarios was most likely to provide them with the best opportunities to enhance their livelihoods, food security and environment twenty years from now.

Vision 1: Vision 2020. This scenario was put forward by AP's Chief Minister backed by a loan from the World Bank. It proposes to consolidate small farms and rapidly increase mechanisation and modernisation. Production enhancing technologies such as genetic modification would be introduced in farming and food processing, reducing the number of people on the land from 70% to 40% by 2020.

Vision 2: An export-based cash crop model of organic production. This vision of the future is based on proposals within IFOAM and the International Trade Centre (UNCTAD/WTO) for environmentally-friendly farming linked to national and international markets. This vision is also increasingly driven by the demand of supermarkets in the North to have a cheap supply of organic produce and comply with new eco-labelling standards.

Vision 3: Localised food systems. A future scenario based on increased self-reliance for rural communities, low external input agriculture, the re-localisation of food production, markets and local economies, with long distance trade in goods that are surplus to production or not produced locally. Support for this vision in India can be drawn from the writings of Mahatma Gandhi, indigenous peoples organisations and some farmers unions in India and elsewhere.

And the verdict? The key conclusions reached by the jury – their ‘vision' – included a desire for food and farming for self reliance and community control over resources. Their priorities included maintaining healthy soils, diverse crops, trees and livestock, and building on indigenous knowledge, practical skills and local institutions.

The report is priced at $US 30 and is available from IIED, 3 Endsleigh Street, London, WC1H 0DD, UKTelephone: +44 20 7388-2117, Fax: +44 20 7388-2826, Email: [email protected]

The full report can be downloaded from www.iied.org/agri/IIEDcitizenjuryAP1.html

Reducing Food Poverty with Sustainable Agriculture: A summary of new evidence

2002

by Jules Pretty and Rachel Hines.

This report outlines the spread of sustainable agriculture around the world and examines its potential to feed the ever-growing world population. The 140-page publication documents 208 case studies from 52 countries in the South. In their conclusions, the authors determine that sustainable agriculture is speading fast and now occupies some 3% of the arable land in Latin America, Asia and Africa. Interestingly, and perhaps somewhat surprisingly, they say that this sustainably-farmed 29 million hectares has increased from 100,000 hectares a decade ago.

Available from Bröt für die Welt, PO Box 10 11 42, D-070010 Stuttgart, Germany, Phone: +49 711 2159 0, Fax: +49 711 2159 288

2001

By J. DeVries and G. Toenniessen, Rockefeller Foundation, 2001, CABI Publishing

This authoritative book on the potential of biotechnology in Africa is quite blatantly written from the Rockefeller Foundation perspective. Both authors work for Rockefeller in Kenya and the US. The Rockefeller Foundation recently (~1998) refocused its research and work under the programme heading of Food Security and the goal of “To improve the food security of the rural poor through the generation of agricultural policies, institutions and innovations that will provide sustainable livelihoods in areas of sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and Latin America bypassed by the Green Revolution.” Africa, and sub-Saharan Africa in particular, is the current focus of the Foundation.

The book will be of interest to a wide range of people in that it clearly shows the thinking and push behind food security and seed systems in Africa from an organisation that has considerable influence. The book starts with an overview of the situation in Africa, the production constraints, the diverse nature of the African environment, and the seed sector and seed policies. The tone starts off in a conciliatory manner, saying that, “The argument put forward in this text does not contend that better varieties alone are the answer to food insecurity in Africa.” A section on plant breeding determines that although Africa was “bypassed by the Green Revolution,” this was simply because the type of research and breeding were not appropriate for Africa's diverse cultures and environments. It also recognises that the answer in plant breeding does not lie in the mass production of a few varieties for use over large areas.

Although the Rockefeller Foundation does not advocate for Africa the same type of Green Revolution techniques used in Asia and Latin America, the insistence of concentrating on a few crops and varieties is still there. The book appears to jump from an excellent overview of the problems faced by African farmers to an inappropriate solution: biotechnology.

Read this publication online here: www.cabi-publishing.org/ Bookshop/ReadingRoom/0851995640.asp

Sustainable farming systems through traditional plant genetic resources and indigenous knowledge based practices

2002

By Ecological and Sustainable Farming Systems; published by Helvetas Sri Lanka.

This book is the product of an extensive survey of agricultural genetic resources amongst traditional farmers across 21 districts of Sri Lanka. This small island country, we learn, has about 24 agro-ecological regions and a valuable repository and crop germplasm. The intention of the publication is to “make the information on traditional agricultural methods available not only to farmers, who contributed during the survey, but also to everybody interested in conservation, production and uitilisation of traditional seeds and agricultural plant species.”

The authors are quite clearly unaffected by the debate in Sri Lanka's neighbouring India on whether or not to document such information. Their position is clear: “The present generation, already accustomed to the modern technology, is not prepared to carry the indigenous knowledge over to the next generation. Therefore, in view of its value to sustainable development, immediate steps should be taken to collect, document and preserve the indigenous knowledge before it is lost forever .”

The second chapter familiarises the reader with genetic and cultural diversity of the country. It is interesting to note how “the multiethnic and religious nature of the country acts as a catalyst for accumulation of different indigenous knowledge and cultural practices that influence on use of genetic resources. It is widely accepted that different ethnic and cultural groups use genetic resources in different manner due to their various cultural and religious beliefs.” The result of this intermixing is manifested in the rich genetic and species diversity in the country.

The bulk of the text is in Chapter 3, on indigenous knowledge, which explores traditional agriculture; Kem methods and rituals (Kem is the talismanic and ritualistic practices developed in Sri Lankan folklore to protect humans, crops and livestock based on occult powers); seed conservation techniques and traditional food preparation methods. In its closing chapter, the need for in situ conservation of plant genetic resources is clearly reiterated; not only for the value of the dynamics the activity itself generates for the farmer and farming communities, but also for rendering value to “static ex situ conservation.”

At the end in tabulated form the book details varieties of rice, grain species, pulses, local vegetables, leafy vegetables, yams, bananas and plantains, fruit species, spices and medicinal plants. The book adds an Asian signature by making reference to the 2,800 varieties of rice officially grown on the island.

The book hopes to inspire others to rejuvenate traditional ways in farming. It is a first-of-a-kind insight into farming life from a country down under.

From Rio to Johannesburg and beyond : glabalizing precaution for genetically modified organisms,

2002

by Volker Lehmann

This neatly written paper examines the effect of genetically modified organisms on the international use of the precautionary principle (PP). A background to PP is provided, in essence a European initiative for consumer protection, which is then followed by the various ways in which PP has been implemented in various and relevant international agreements, including the most recent WTO Doha agreement. In addition, Lehmann discusses how the cause of precaution can be strengthened in the up coming Johannesburg World Sustainable Development Summit. What is most striking about this publication though is the firm conclusion that many of the disagreements within international treaties stems uniquely from the unilateralist position of the USA. However, there is still a long way for PP to go to live up to its full potential.

A report for the Heinrich Böll Foundation, Washington Office, April 2002

Available in PDF at: http://www.boell.org/docs/ PrecautioninWTOandRIO.pdf, or http://www.boell.org/451.html

From the April 2002 issue of Seedling

GMO Contamination around the world - Friends of the Earth International

GMO Contamination around the world is a short booklet examining cases where crops and food products have been contaminated by genetically modified genes. At the beginning, FOEI makes it quite clear that these GM genes are acting as the "Trojan Horse" of the biotech industry - seemingly a gift to help feed the world, but in reality powerful tools that will undermine food securiy. A whole section is dedicated to the Starlink debacle and then provides a few examples around the world where cont-amination has occurred. This booklet has an interesting Annex which provides details of how contamination in a plant can be identified.

Friends of the Earth International, 2001, GMO Contamination around the world. The full booklet (www.grain.org/docs/GM-Contamination.pdf) and the Annex (www.grain.org/docs/test-kits.pdf) are available on the GRAIN website, or at the FOEI website (www.foei.org). Also available from the FOEI Secretariat, PO Box 19199, 1000 gd Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Tel: (31-20) 622 1369. Fax: (31-20) 639 2181. E-mail: [email protected]

Brave New Seeds - Robert Ali Brac de la Perrière and Franck Seuret

Brave New Seeds is a book based on the Rishikesh Declaration, a list of principles adopted by the participants of a seminar held in Rishikesh, India. It was originally written in French and is now available in other languages. The book provides an overview of the issues discussed at the seminar, such as details of who really owns seeds, the effect that GM seeds will have on small farmers, the ethics of producing GM crops and an excellent overview of intellectual property rights. The book is easy to read and is written in a forceful, yet convincing, style. The book's main merit is to provide a broad picture of the issues for an audience which is still relatively new to the subject.

Robert Ali Brac de la Perrière and Franck Seuret, 2000, Brave New Seeds - The threat of GM crops to farmers, Global Issues, Available in English, French and Spanish and possibily other languages. Contact ZED books, 7 Cynthia Street, London N1 9JF, UK. Tel: (44-207) 837 4014.

Ecology and Genetics - Arjun Makhijani

Ecology and Genetics is a monograph written by a non-biologist which looks at the genetic structures of living beings and their interaction with their ecosystems. At the beginning the author compares the difficulties of monitoring plutonium-239, which has a half life of 24,000 years, to that of genetically modified plants. Throughout the book, genetic engineering of plants is shown to be a risk; humans are working in an area in which the consequences are unknown. "When the effects of creating modified genomes on the environment and on evolution… are well understood, we can at least have a well informed debate about genetic engineering. Today, we cannot."

Arjun Makhijani, 2001, Ecology and Genetics - An essay on the Nature of Life and the Problem of Genetic Engineering, Institute for Energy and Environmental Research. ISBN 1-891843-12-5. Available on the IEER website: www.ieer.org/pubs/e&g-toc.html. Published by the Council on International and Public Affairs, Suite 3C, 777 United Nations Plaza, New York, NY 10017. Tel: (1-800) 316-2739.

Food Security in India - Alternative Policies and People's Initiatives - Bharat Dogra

Food Security in India - Alternative Policies and People's Initiatives is a compilation of essays on food security in India. Two of these will be of particular interest to readers of Seedling. The first analyses food security policies at a national level in India in three parts: the current food security system in India, the system´s weaknesses and distortions, and then a proposal for an alternative food security system. Another chapter looks at the Save the Seeds Movement (SSM) in Henvalghati (Utta-ranchal), which is inspiring writing. The SSM has been able to set up an entire system supporting farmers in the saving of seeds and traditional farming. Included in the analysis is the important contribution of women which "had been seriously underestimated and the opportunities had been accordingly denied to them". The other three chapters look at other people's initiatives which have helped the struggle against hunger in India. A good read.

Bharat Dogra, 2001, Food Security in India - Alternative Policies and People's Initiatives. Available from Madhu Dogra, C-27 Raksha Kunj, Paschim Vihar, New Delhi-110063, Tel: (91-11) 525 5303.

The Relationship between Nature Conservation, Biodiversity and Organic Agriculture - IUCN et al

If you are supportive of organic agriculture or want to know why it is so great, this is the book for you. The relationship between nature conservation, biodiversity and organic agri-culture has been written on the back of an International Workshop held in Italy and is composed of a range of case studies, most showing the benefits of organic agriculture on the local environment. Nearly all the case studies are based in Europe. Two of the exceptions are from Peru, one looking at the importance of seed exchange between farmers and the other looking at a scheme to re-introduce the cultivation of organic and naturally pigmented cotton.

IUCN et al, 2000, The Relationship between Nature Conservation, Biodiversity and Organic Agriculture - Proceedings of an International Workshop held in Vignola, Italy, 1999, IUCN, IFOAM, WWF, AIAB, 224pp, Price Euro 14. Available from IFOAM, c/o Ökozentrum Imsbach, D-66636 Tholey-Theley, Germany. Tel: (49) 6853-919890, Fax: (49) 6853-919899, E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.ifoam.org/letter.html