Charles Furneaux
Commissioning Editor of Documentaries
Channel 4
124, Horse Ferry Road
LONDON SW1 2TX
Dear Mr. Furneaux,
EQUINOX PROGRAMME: RISE AND FALL OF GM FOOD
While I was in the UK in April, I watched the Equinox Programme entitled "Rise and Fall of GM Food "
It portrayed Africa's Poverty and implied that the average British housewife's resistance to food containing
genetically modified crops would prevent developing countries, particularly their farmers, from benefiting from
the growing of such crops. The argument presented the view that modern biotechnology, particularly genetic
engineering, was the way to solve the food crisis in Africa, but the rejection of GM food by the European public
was holding back the R&D needed to develop GM crops.
As can be seen from the list of signatures with the attached letter, many people in both the North and South have
joined me in finding the viewpoint of the programme deeply offensive. It is basically immoral to use one
group's weakness, to sell a product to another group.
We are also offended by the gross over-simplification of the complex problems- social, economic, and
biological, - involved in the challenge of meeting Africa's food requirements and promoting sustainable
development.
The programme made no mention of how so-called "technological developments" made in the name of progress
often leave the poorest farmers worse off. As William Overholt, Principle Scientist, the International Centre of
Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) in Nairobi, Kenya states in a letter to me:
"I was recently in Ethiopia where I visited a number of farmers who were being assisted by the NGO, Sasakawa
Global 2000. These farmers had achieved impressive yields of maize, comparable to those found in the US.
However, they were losing money due to the high cost of the inputs (improved varieties, fertilizer, herbicides
and insecticides) and low price of maize at harvest - something was obviously wrong - one more technology will
not solve the problem."
The exploitation of the very poorest of farmers shown in the Equinox programme and asserting that they will be
helped by the expensive GM technology was extremely misleading. This has not been the case with the Green
Revolution, where chemical agriculture has led to many farmers being worse off, not only financially but their
land is rendered infertile by the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
The programme was also unbalanced as it failed to present a dissenting voice from anyone working in Africa or
other developing countries who are deeply concerned about the environmental and socio-economic impacts of
GE technology. Many governments in Africa do not want GE crops. The only dissenting voices shown were
from people in the UK, who were portrayed as blocking development opportunities. This was extremely
misleading and dissenters from developing countries should have had an opportunity to put their voice across.
Could you be interested in commissioning a documentary to look at small scale initiatives in Africa which are
assisting farmers with 'low cost' appropriate technologies for restoring soil fertility; select their own improved
seed and diversified cropping systems that can actually offer higher yields and benefits for poor farmers
themselves as well as the population they feed. We would be delighted to provide you with contacts of
scientists and agronomists both in the North and the South whom are working with small-scale development
initiatives and getting good results.
Please find enclosed a letter I wrote that has been endorsed by people from all sorts of backgrounds from around
the world.
I welcome your response.
Yours Sincerely,
Tewolde Berhan Gebre Egziabher
Spokesperson for the "Like Minded Group"
In the negotiations of the Cartagena Protocol On Safety in Biotechnology
cc:
Liz Hoskin, The Gaia Foundation
18 Well Walk, Hampstead London NW14
Sue Fewell, Head of Complaints (Programmes)
ITC (Independent Television Commission)
33 Foley St
London W1P7LB
Tewolde & Sue
>Institute for Sustainable Development
>P.O. Box 30231,
>Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
JOINT LETTER TO CHANNEL FOUR TELEVISION AND THE TIMES NEWSPAPER, UK: IN PROTEST
TO DOCUMENTARY, (EQUINOX, 19TH MARCH 2000) AND ARTICLE (GM FOODS AND THE
LUXURY OF CHOICE, 21ST MARCH 2000), USING SOUTHERN SCIENTISTS TO MAKE EUROPEANS
FEEL GUILTY FOR NOT SUPPORTING GENETIC ENGINEERING.
Dear
We the under-signed, are appalled at the use made of the poverty of the rural people of the South to justify
genetically modified food to Northern consumers. We are appalled for the following reasons:
1. Poverty in the South is structurally rooted in the prevalent North-South relationships. The present systems of
international resource control, commodity pricing, education, training, research, finance, banking, insurance,
transportation etc. are all components of the system that controls wealth and poverty, and which started being
put in place during the slavery and colonial periods and have matured in this post-colonial period. Southern
poverty, especially rural poverty, is a consequence of this.
2. As such, the solution to rural poverty lies in a multidimensional corrective measure that would enable
sufficient local control of the appropriation of the benefits that arise from the use of and trade in resources, as
well as the application of labour.
3. The assumption that the complex rural poverty that afflicts the South, would be amenable to solution through
single technological inputs is grossly incorrect and totally objectionable since it would misdirect efforts.
4. Though technological inputs have a role to play in rural development, and genetic engineering could be a
technology to consider, it would remain but one technology among many. For example even if potential yields
of food crops were to be dramatically improved, if storage, transportation, marketing, distribution, and the
ability to buy the food were not simultaneously improved, the effort would still remain ineffective. In fact, as we
keep pointing out, it is not shortage of food that is the problem, but it's distribution. More GE food is not the
point: it is improving access and local food security. But corporations do not profit from such solutions.
5. There are high yielding varieties in rural areas but their impacts remain limited by the bottlenecks imposed by
many of the other variables. The agricultural research stations that are found in Southern countries have also
produced many such varieties and the potentials of these varieties remain unrealised because of the other
negative factors. But research must continue so that there will always be higher yielding varieties to have their
potential impacts realised as and when conditions allow it. It is a gross oversimplification to state that such seed
would solve rural food problems. The picture is the same with seed of improved nutritional quality such as
vitamin A rice.
6. At the heart of the inequity that maintains the present poverty of the South is the inherited positive advantage
that the Northern transnational corporations enjoy. We consider the use of the South's rural poverty to justify the
monopoly control and global use of genetically modified food production by the North's transnational
corporations, not only an obstructive lie, but a way of derailing the solutions to our Southern rural poverty. It is
the height of cynical abuse of the corporations' position of advantage. Channel Four Television and The Times
newspaper should be ashamed for allowing themsleves to be so manipulated into trying effectively to
emotionally blackmail the UK public into using GE.
Yours sincerely,
Names and
affiliations/Countries
>André Knewitz Levy
>Agronomist
>CAPA (Central of Support to
Small Farmers)
>Brazil
>
>Vitor Hugo Hollas
>Agricultural Technician
>CAPA (Central of Support to
Small Farmers)
>Brazil
>
>Ingrid M. Giesel
>Agronomist
>CAPA (Central of Support to
Small Farmers)
>Brazil
>
>Cassiana Bordin
>Secretary
>CAPA (Central to Support to
Small Farmers)
>Brazil
>
>Gilmar Luiz Schardong
>Agronomist
>CAPA (Central of Support to
Small Farmers)
>Brazil
>
>Andrea Lazzarini Salazar
>Lawyer
>IDEC - Instituto Brasileiro De
Defesa Do Consumidor
(Brazilian
>Institute for Consumer
Defense) / NGO Brazil
>
>Sally Holtermann,
>Economist,
>UK
>
>Dr. Anita Idel
>Autorin und Tieraerztin
>Op'n Dörp 17
>24217 Barsbek
>Germany
>
>Tomoko Sakuma
>Director, People's Forum
2001,
>Japan
>
>Caroline Dommen (in my
personal capacity)
>Lawyer (Human Rights Law,
Environmental Law, WTO
Law)
>Geneva, Switzerland
>
>Joãso Clímaco
>Socialogist,
>Brazil
>
>Ryan Meili
>Student, University of
Saskatchewan
>CANADA
>
>Romero Alves Teixeira
>Nutritionist
>Associação Mineira de
Nutrição
>Brasil
>
>Mahua Acharya
>Student in UK
>
>Ismael Fabro
>Chief Environmental Officer
>Department of the
Environment
>10/12 Ambergris Avenue
>Belmopan
>Belize C.A.
>
>François Meienberg,
>Berne Declaration,
>Switzerland
>
>Shulamith Koenig/ Executive
Director
>PDHRE, People's Decade of
Human Rights Education / NY
Office
>526 West 111th street, NY,
10025, USA
>
>Alejandro Argumedo
>Agronomist
>Kechua-Aymara Asociation
for Sustainable Livelihoods,
>Andes, Peru
>
>Robb and Katherine Wilson
(retired)
>Wheeler, WI
>USA
>
>Conchy Martín Rey
>Directora de Programas
Especiales
>Confederación de
Consumidores y Usuarios
(CECU)
>Spain
>
>Marc Maes
>Studiedienst NCOS-11.11.11.
>Vlasfabriekstraat 11
>B-1060 Brussel
>
>Jill Davies,
>stream ecology consultant,
>Montana,
>USA
>
>Bernarditas C. Muller
>Philippines
>
>Luis Carlos Ogando Dacal
>PhD student
>IFGW - Unicamp
>Brazil
>
>Maria Hamlin Zuniga
>Agronomist, Salubrista
>Nicaragua
>
>Isabel Bermejo
>Translator
>Spain
>
>Rosemary Williams
>Botanist
>South Africa
>
>Camille De Stoop
>Country Co-ordinator, ENDAEthiopia
>Ethiopia
>
>Flavio Luiz Schieck Valente
>Physician
>ÁGORA - Food Security and
Citizenship
>Brazil
>
>Melania Yanez Quezada
>Agronomist-Magister in
Human Feed and Nutrition
>Ecuador
>
>Piers Denholm-Young
>Buyer
>Goodness Foods Wholesale
>UK
>
>Nancy Kgengwenyane
(formerly Basinyi-Moyo)
>Environmental Lawyer,
>Biosafety negotiator for
Botswana,
>
>Jorge Riechmann
>Coordinador del Área de
Medio Ambiente
>de la Fundación 1º de Mayo
de CC.OO.
>C/Arenal 11, 1º, 28013
Madrid,
>Spain
>
>Chris N. Ugwu
>Development Consultant and
Environment Activist
>Society For The Improvement
Of Rural People - Nigeria
(NSIRP)
>Nigeria
>
>Peter M. Rosset, Ph.D.
>Executive Director
>Food First/The Institute for
Food and Development Policy
>398 60th Street
>Oakland, California 94618
>USA
>
>L. Christina Cobb
>Sustainablity Consultant
>Free Agency
>260 East 10th Street
>New York, NY 10009,
>USA
>
>Dr Mae-wan Ho & Angela
Ryan
>Institute of Science in Society
>& Biology Dept, Open
University,
>UK
>
>Samuel S. Epstein, M.D.
>Professor of Environmental
and Occupational Medicine
>University of Illinois, School
of Public Health, Chicago, and
>Chairman, Cancer Prevention
Coalition
>USA
>
>Phil Chandler
>Office Manager
>Totnes Genetics Group
>UK
>
>Sky McCain
>Chairman
>Wholesome Food Association
>UK
>
>Sue Birley
>Coordinator
>SCAM (Swindon Campaign
Against GM Crops)
>U.K.
>
>Christine von Weizsacker,
Germany
>Vice-president, Ecoropa,
Europe
>
>Vanessa Gray
>Marketing Coordinator for
horticultural property
>and consultancy agents
>UK
>
>Philip L. Bereano
>Department of Technical
Communication
>College of Engineering
>Box 352195
>University of Washington
>Seattle, Wash. 98195
>USA
>
>Lynda Brown - Food Writer,
>Women say No to GMOs, UK
>
>Peter Brown
>Publisher
>GM-FREE
>UK
>
>Mark Raby
>Consultant
>The Genetics Forum
>UK
>
>
>Beth Burrows
>President/Director
>The Edmonds Institute, USA
>
>Helen Ellery
>Mother, UK
>
>
>Mrs J Saunders BDS LDS
RCS
>Retired dental surgeon, UK
>
>Lucy Michaels
>Campaigner
>Genetic Engineering Network
>UK
>
>Olaf Bayer
>Campaigner
>Exeter Genetics Group
>UK
>
>Robert Vint
>National Coordinator
>Genetic Food Alert
>UK
>
>Becky Price
>Press Officer
>Resistance is Fertile
>UK
>
>Eva Novotny
>Astrophysicist (retired)
>University of Cambridge, UK
>
>Suzanne Aigrain
>Physicist
>Imperial College, London
>UK
>
>José da Cruz
>Geographer
>Researcher on the relationship
disasters - development prevention.
>Friends of the Earth Future
Earth Canelones 1241, ap. 204
11100
>Montevideo, Uruguay
>
>Maria José Guazzelli
>Agronomist
>Centro Ecológico Ipê
>Brazil
>
>Angela Cordeiro
>Biodiversity Consultant
>BRAZIL
>
>Bridget O'Connor,
>Administrative Secretary,
>Zimbabwe
>
>Mike, Sue and Sam Dickson
>Australia
>
>Carlos Alberto Vicente,
>Farmacéutico, Marcos Paz,
>Argentina
>
>Kevin Li
>Hong Kong SAR,
>China
>
>Dr. Arnold Egli
>Forest Engineer SIT,
>Independant Consultant for
International Forestry and
Agriculture
>Switzerland
>
>Ana Lucia Bravo
>Red Por una América Latina
Libre de Transgénicos
>Quito
>Ecuador
>
>Elizabeth Bravo V
>Doctora en Biologia
>Red Por una América Latina
Libre de Transgénicos
>Quito
>Ecuador
>
>Joerg Haas
>Director Sustainable
Development
>Heinrich Boell Foundation
>Germany
>
>Pamela and Mark Spencer,
>S.Africa
>
>Angel Chun
>Biodiversity Management
Specialist
>Belize
>
>Judy Wicks
>White Dog Cafe
>3420 Sansom Street
>Philadelphia, PA 19104
>USA
>
>Glenda Lindsay,
>Health Practitioner,
>Johannesburg,
>South Africa
>
>Melessew Shanko
>Director, MEGEN Power
Consult
>Consultants on Renewable
Energy, Environment and
Sustainable
>Development Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
>
>
>Jerónimo Aguado Martínez
>Agricultor, Presidente de
Plataforma Rural
>Plataforma Rural, Spain
>
>Héctor Gravina
>Sociology
>Plataforma Rural
>Spain
>
>Viv Mountford (Ms)
>Industry & Pollution Activist
>Halton Friends of the Earth
Group,
>Cheshire, England, UK
>
>Prof Marjorie Mbilinyi
>Coordinator
>Rural Food Security Policy
And Development Group (RFS)
>University of Dar es Salaam
>Tanzania
>
>Liliane M. Joels
>Environmental Manager
>Brazil
>
>Sezifredo Paz
>Veterinarian
>IDEC - Instituto Brasileiro De
Defesa Do Consumidor
(Brazilian
>Institute for Consumer
Defense) / NGO Brazil
>
>Othon Abrahão
>Agriculture Engineer
>IDEC - Instituto Brasileiro De
Defesa Do Consumidor
(Brazilian
>Institute for Consumer
Defense) / NGO Brazil
>
>Carolyn Vadala, Manager,
USA
>Board member, Cornucopia
Network of New Jersey
>Volunteer for sustainable
development
>USA
>
>Brian Tokar, Professor and
Author,
>Institute for Social Ecology,
>Plainfield, Vermont,
>USA
>
>Sally Holtermann,
>Economist, UK
>
>Cristina Martins Vieira de
Carvalho
>Minas Gerais' Environmental
State Bureau
>Brazil
>
>María Irene Kossmann
>Profesora de Enseñanza
Primaria
>Marcos Paz, Prov. de Buenos
Aires,
>Argentina
>
>Monika Koubratova
>Agricultural economist
>Bulgaria
>
>Dr. Hartmut Meyer
>Biologist
>Co-ordinator of the German
NGO Working Group on
Biodiversity
>German NGO Forum
Environment & Development
>Germany
>
>Negussu Aklilu
>Biologist
>Addis Ababa,
>Ethiopia
>
>Sophi Beckett
>Permaculture International
>Addis Ababa
>Ethiopia
>
>Asferachew Abate
>Heinrich Boell Foundation,
Regional Office for the Horn of
Africa.
>Addis Ababa Ethiopia
>
>Prof. Sebsebe Demissew,
>Dean, Faculty of Science,
>Addis Ababa University
>Ethiopia
>
>Mirutse Giday
>Ethnobotanist
>ISD, Addis Ababa
>Ethiopia
>
>Kathleen McAfee
>University of California
President's Postdoctoral Fellow
>Environmental Studies, UC
Santa Cruz
>810 Liberty Street El Cerrito,
CA 94530
>USA
>
>Theo Oberhuber
>National Coordinator of
Nature and Environment Area,
Madrid,
>Spain
>
>Brian Baxter
>Organic Smallholder
>Swaffham, Norfolk,
>England
>
>Dr. Charlotte Mbali ,
>University of Natal,
>South Africa
>
>Sara Tewoldeberhan
>Ethiopian Student
>Gottingen, Germany
>
>Kindeya Gebre Hiwot
>Forestry doctoral student
>Gottingen, Germa
>
>Alan Golding
>Television and Radio
Researcher
>
>Daniel Sánchez
>Director of Amigos de la
Tierra
>Amigos de la Tierra ( Friends
of the Earth Spain)
>Spain
>
>Assegid Garedew
>Ethiopian PhD Student
>Free University of Berlin
>Germany
>
>Luciana Kerber Chiele
>Psicopedagoga
>Brasil
>
>Cesar Cony
>Joalheiro
>Brasil
>
>Etienne Vernet
>Ecoropa , Europe
>
>Liz Rushbrook
>Doctorate researcher
>Countryside and Community
Research Unit, Cheltenham and
Gloucester
>CHE, Cheltenham, England
>
>Ms. Kika Kapela
>Administration Officer
>Friends of the Earth Cyprus
>
>Giovanna Garcia Fagundes,
bióloga.
>Mensaje traducido y
distribuído por:
>Red por una America Latina
Libre de Transgenicos
>Casilla 17-15-246-C
>Quito, Ecuador
>
>Jean-Pierre Leroy
>Educateur,
>Coordinateur Environnement
et Développement
>Fase - federação de Órgãos
para Assistência Social e
Educacional Rio
>de Janeiro Brasil
>
>Haile Kahsay
>MSc student in Physical Land
Resources
>University of Ghent
>Belgium
>
>Dr. David C. Korten
>President
>The People-Centered
Development Forum
>International
>
>Lorenzo Muelas Hurtado
>Pueblo Indígena de Guambía
>Movimiento Autoridades
Indígenas de Colombia
>
>Mika Rönkkö
>advocacy officer
>Kepa - Service Centre for
Development
>Cooperation
>Finland
>
>Milenne Tanganelli
>multimedia designer
>SPAIN
>
>Andrew Taynton
>Safe Food Coalition
>Republic of South Africa
>
>PHd. Silvia Rodriguez
Cervantes
>Programa CAMBIOS
>Escuela de Ciencias
Ambientales
>Universidad Nacional
Autonoma
>Heredia, Costa Rica
>
>Sam Donohoe
>Research Technician (Protein
Chemistry)
>United States
>
>Mauricio de Jesús García
Alvarez
>Ingeniero Agrónomo
>Programa de Capacitación en
Agroecología y Gestión Local
>Colombia
>
>Renata Menasche
>Antropóloga
>UFRGS
>Brasil
>
>Prof. Dr. Ossama El-Tayeb
>Director, Microbial
Biotechnology Center,
>Faculty of Pharmacy, Cairo
University
>Department of Nature
protection, Ministry of
Environmental affairs
>Environmental Affairs
Agency, Cairo, Egypt
>
>Bill Overholt
>Principal Scientist
>International Centre of Insect
Physiology and Ecology
>Kenya
>
>Dr. Abebe Demissie
>Genetic Resources
Conservation
>Institute for Biodiversity and
Conservation of Genetic
Resources
>Ethiopia
>
>Liv Soares Severino,
>Agronomicist
>Brazil
>
>Elfrieda Pschorn-Strauss
>Coordinator
>Biowatch
>South Africa
>
>Organizations:
>
>The Corner House
>UK
>
>Lembas Ltd.
>Speciality Vegetarian and
Wholefood Wholesalers.
>Unit 7, Gordon Works,
>Valley Road,
>Sheffield S8 9FT.
>England
>
>Third World Network
>Penang, Malaysia
>And
>Accra, Ghana
>
>Sahabat Alam Malaysia
>
>Consumers Association of
Penang
>Malaysia
>
>KONPHALINDO (Indonesia)
>
>Glenn Ashton
>on behalf of the Green Party
of South Africa
>
>PDHRE, People's Decade of
Human Rights Education / NY
Office
>Shulamith Koenig / Executive
Director
>526 West 111th street, NY .
NY, 10025, USA
>
>ECOLOGISTAS EN
ACCION - SECRETARIA
>C/ Marqués de Leganés, 12 28004 Madrid
>
>Food First/The Institute for
Food and Development Policy
>398 60th Street
>Oakland, California 94618
USA
>
> Members of CECU
>Héctor Gravina (CECU)
>ACSUR-Las Segovias
>AMIGOS DE LA TIERRA
(campaña transgénicos)
>Anna Rosa Martínez / GRAIN
>Carlos Martínez Camarero
>CECU
>COAG Madrid
>ECOLOGISTAS EN
ACCIÓN / ESTATAL
>ENTREPUEBLOS
>Eric Guerin (Plataforma
Rural)
>Eva Suárez-LLanos / WWFAdena
>Fernando García Dory
>Fernando González Candelas
>Gregorio Alvaro
>Helen Groome / EHNEUGAV
>Isabel Ávila/ CEACCU
>Isabel Bermejo
>Jerónimo Aguado
>Jose Manuel Delgado
>Miguel Romero
>Natividad Hernando (UGT)
>Pilar Galindo /COAG
>PLATAFORMA RURAL
>Quique Cano /ACSUR
>Ricardo Aguilar/
GREENPEACE
>SODEPAZ (Gemma)
>VIDA SANA
>Silvia Jaquenod Zsögön
>Siderlei Silva (CONTAC)
>Sebastiao Pinheiro
>Ramón MecoVjbw
>Ramón Folch
>Óscar Bayona
>Omar Postigo
>Oliver Todt
>OBSERVATORI DE
BIOÈTICA I DRET (María
Casado)
>Miguel Carreras (CIENCIA
VIVA)
>Marta Román (GEA 21)
>Maria Hamlin Zuniga
(Nicaragua)
>María Casado
>Margarita Boladeras
>Manuel Ruiz Pérez
>Manu González/ HAIZEA
>Luis Carlos Silva/ Cuba
>Lucien Royer (CIOSL/
TUAC)
>Kiko Agea (Fed.
Agroalimentaria CC.OO.)
>KAREN MCCONNELL
>Juana Labrador
>Juan Pablo Albar
>Juan Carlos Mestre
>Juan Bárcena
>José Luis Riechmann
>José Luis Cano/ IU Jaén
>José Barral (\Chiño\)
>Jordi Bigues
>Joel Tickner
>Javier Cantalapiedra
>Isabel Fontecha (Agencia
Europea de Medio Ambiente)
>Iñaki Chaves (FSAP)
>Ignacio Vicario Esteban
(CNRS, Francia)
>Ignacio Romagosa
>Héctor San Román
(México)el4aWNvKQ
>Gregorio Álvaro Campos
>Gerardo Iglesias (Rel-UITA)
>GENET
>FUNDACIÓN ECOLOGÍA Y
DESARROLLO
>Francisco Roberto Caporal
(EMATER/RS)
>Fernando Beltrán
>Esther Sánchez Bell
>Enrique Gómez López
>Enric Rimbau (EL TEMPS)
>Emilio Criado
>ECOLOGISTAS EN
ACCIÓN
>Domingo Jiménez Beltrán
(Agencia Europea de Medio
Ambiente)
>David Gee/ EEA
>Daniel Soutullo
>Cristiano Cardoso Gomes
(Rede de Agricultura
Sustentavel)
>Conchy Martín Rey (CECU)
>Concha Denche
>Comunidad del Sur
>CENTRO ECOLÓGICO
(Brasil)
>Brenda Padilla
>Antonio Bello
>Andrés Moya
>Alvaro Toledo (GEDEA)
>Carlos R.
>Marga Ferré
>Estefanía Blount
>
>
>
>===================
>