In this issue... GRAIN | January 2010 | Seedling - January 2010 Read the editorial [Read the full article] — [Download PDF Version] Unravelling the “miracle” of Malawi’s green revolution GRAIN | January 2010 | Seedling - January 2010 Malawi’s green revolution success story has been lauded around the world. While it is good to see a government investing in local food production, it is doubtful whether the achievements will be sustainable unless radical changes are implemented. Above all, land needs to be redistributed so that farmers have holdings that are big enough to produce surpluses, and the government needs to move away from its narrow focus on chemical fertlisers and hybrid maize seeds. [Read the full article] — [Download PDF Version] Africa's land and family farms - up for grabs? Joan Baxter | January 2010 | Seedling - January 2010 Over the years many Big Ideas have been imposed on Africa from outside. The latest is that the region should sell or lease millions of hectares of land to foreign investors, who will bring resources and up-to-date technology. None of the blueprints has worked, and African farmers have become increasingly impoverished. It is time for Africans to turn to their own histories, knowledge and resources. [Read the full article] — [Download PDF Version] Agricultural workers still struggle for their rights Sue Longley | January 2010 | Seedling - January 2010 More than one billion people in the world are employed in agriculture, and most work in extremely precarious conditions. They cannot guarantee the food security of their families. Improvements will come only if these workers are better organised and better able to engage in collective bargaining. The IUF is working with its affiliates to make this happen. [Read the full article] — [Download PDF Version] What 'financialisation' means for food workers Peter Rossman | January 2010 | Seedling - January 2010 Over the last couple of decades there has been a huge swelling in the importance of the financial sector in the world economy. Investors now demand the same elevated returns in all economic sectors – including food and agriculture. As a result, even manufacturing and service corporations have been “financialised”. The dominant financial logic places little value on real production, productivity or jobs. This is extremely harmful to the vast majority of the world’s population, and it has enormous implications for the billions of people involved in food production. [Read the full article] — [Download PDF Version] Indian farmers organise to stop Bt brinjal GRAIN | January 2010 | Seedling - January 2010 On 14 October 2009 an Indian governmental agency – the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC), part of the Environment Ministry – gave its approval for the environmental release of Bt brinjal. [1] This means that the crop is considered safe for use in an open space, which includes planting on a commercial scale. Bt brinjal would be the first genetically engineered food crop to be approved for commercial cultivation in India, and the government sees it as the first of many. Update: On 9 February 2010, in response to the widespread concern expressed by the public and some scientists, Jairam Ramesh, Minister of Environment and Forests, announced an indefinite moratorium on the release of Bt-brinjal. [Read the full article] — [Download PDF Version] Contaminated Canadian flax barred from Europe Lucy Sharratt | January 2010 | Seedling - January 2010 In September 2009, farmers in Canada were shocked to learn that their flax (linseed) exports were contaminated with genetically modified (GM) flax. The timing could not have been worse: just as farmers began their harvest, companies in Europe began detecting GM flax contamination, and the European market was closed to Canadian flax. It is not unusual to have crops contaminated by their GM equivalents, but this particular contamination was wholly unexpected because it has been illegal to sell GM flax seed in Canada since 2001. [Read the full article] — [Download PDF Version] Interview with Raúl Zibechi GRAIN | January 2010 | Seedling - January 2010 Raúl Zibechi is a Uruguayan journalist, writer and activist, who has travelled widely in Latin America, particularly in the Andean countries. He is especially interested in social movements and has written extensively on them, notably in Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia, Chile and Colombia. [Read the full article] — [Download PDF Version] Seeds GRAIN | January 2010 | Seedling - January 2010 [Read the full article] — [Download PDF Version] The Tyranny of Rights by Brewster Kneen GRAIN | January 2010 | Seedling - January 2010 GRAIN reviews "The Tyranny of Rights" by Brewster Kneen [Read the full article] — [Download PDF Version]