Biotech crops: no benefits for Africa

TEN YEARS OF GENETICALLY MODIFIED CROPS FAIL TO DELIVER BENEFITS TO AFRICA

African Center for Biosafety and Friends of the Earth Nigeria

January 10, 2006

Johannesburg (South Africa), Lagos (Nigeria), January 10, 2006

– Ten years after the first significant planting of Genetically Modified (GM) crops there are no apparent benefits for consumers, farmers or the environment, and despite renewed promises by biotech corporations, there has been no impact on hunger and poverty, according to a report by the African Center for Biosafety and Friends of the Earth International.

The 100-page report "Who benefits from GM crops? Monsanto and its corporate driven genetically modified crop revolution" concludes that the increase in GM crops in a limited number of countries has largely been the result of the aggressive strategies of the biotech industry, rather than the consequence of benefits derived from using GM technology.