myecoproject, image from foodfreedom
10 June 2010 - Haiti’s farmers are being urged to burn seeds donated by U.S. agriculture giant Monsanto. The American company donated $4 million worth of seeds to Haiti to help the country rebuild after January’s devastating earthquake. The seeds promise to help farmers in the hungry nation increase the amount of food they can grow.
But the powerful Haitian peasant group that’s telling farmers to burn the donations says the seeds will change the way most Haitian peasants farm, tying them to multinational corporations and threatening the environment.
It’s the latest example of the worldwide ideological struggle over how to feed a hungry planet.
Even before the earthquake, more than half Haiti’s population was undernourished. The earthquake forced hundreds of thousands of people out of the capital, Port-au-Prince, and into the rural areas. They arrived with nothing but their appetites, the Haitian saying goes, putting extra strain on rural farmers.
“The right thing to do”
“Monsanto made this donation, simply put, because it’s the right thing to do,” said company spokesman Darren Wallis. “The needs in Haiti are significant and we have seeds that could help farmers not only grow food for themselves but, with an ample harvest, significantly impact the food security of other Haitian citizens.”
So it may come as a suprise that Chavannes Jean-Baptiste, the head of Haiti’s Peasant Movement of Papaye (abbreviated MPP in Creole), wants the seeds destroyed.
“We consider introducing poisonous seeds in our country as a major attack,” he says. “We want to say clearly to Monsanto, the American government who supports the idea, as well as the Haitian government. We want them to hear the voice of the peasants who say no.”
But the powerful Haitian peasant group that’s telling farmers to burn the donations says the seeds will change the way most Haitian peasants farm, tying them to multinational corporations and threatening the environment.
It’s the latest example of the worldwide ideological struggle over how to feed a hungry planet.
Even before the earthquake, more than half Haiti’s population was undernourished. The earthquake forced hundreds of thousands of people out of the capital, Port-au-Prince, and into the rural areas. They arrived with nothing but their appetites, the Haitian saying goes, putting extra strain on rural farmers.
“The right thing to do”
“Monsanto made this donation, simply put, because it’s the right thing to do,” said company spokesman Darren Wallis. “The needs in Haiti are significant and we have seeds that could help farmers not only grow food for themselves but, with an ample harvest, significantly impact the food security of other Haitian citizens.”
So it may come as a suprise that Chavannes Jean-Baptiste, the head of Haiti’s Peasant Movement of Papaye (abbreviated MPP in Creole), wants the seeds destroyed.
“We consider introducing poisonous seeds in our country as a major attack,” he says. “We want to say clearly to Monsanto, the American government who supports the idea, as well as the Haitian government. We want them to hear the voice of the peasants who say no.”
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