GMW: Hungry for an alternative - Tewolde interview

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GMW: Hungry for an alternative - Tewolde interview

" GM WATCH " <info

Mon, 27 Jun 2005 08:55:58 +0100

 

 

 

 

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Hungry for an alternative

 

Tewolde Berhan believes that organic farming is the only real solution

to famine in Africa. Sally J Hall meets the quiet but formidable

Ethiopian who has become a thorn in the side of the GM foods lobby

 

The Independent, 27 June 2005

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/environment/story.jsp?story=649963

 

Organic farming is a slow-to-grow, low-yield industry favoured by

middle-class parents who have the time and money to meander the

overpriced

aisles of Waitrose, deliberating over wild rocket or white asparagus.

Right?

 

Wrong, says Tewolde Berhan. He thinks organic farming could be the

solution to Ethiopia's famines. The chief of the country's Environment

Agency has worked his way through academia and government to become

one of

the world's most influential voices in the biotechnology field. Berhan

believes that, properly applied, his approach could save the lives of

many of the thousands of Africans who die every day as a result of

hunger and poverty.

 

He maintains that genetically modified organisms (GMOs) remove control

from local farmers. He speaks for a growing number who believe that

Africa should return to natural, sustainable methods of agriculture

better

suited to its people and environment.

 

Can one man hope to stand against governments and the huge

multinationals? Visiting London, Berhan appears to be a frail - if

nattily dressed

- sexagenarian. But our conversation reveals his determination,

intelligence and encyclopedic memory, combining to create an indomitable

force.

 

Asked why bad harvests seem to have a greater impact on Ethiopia than

its neighbours, he has a simple yet stark response. " It's largely

because of the lack of infrastructure, " he says. " The road system in

Ethiopia

has doubled in the past 10 years, but is still very poor.

 

" Ethiopia is still an agrarian society, and there isn't one such

country that hasn't had famines, " he adds. " The reasons are clear:

some years

you have plenty and others not enough. If you don't have the

technological and financial capacity and the infrastructure to store

in good

years, you can't make provision for the bad. People here depend

entirely on

the crops they produce in their fields, so when one season fails, the

result is famine. "

 

Born in 1940, Berhan graduated in 1963 from Addis Ababa University and

took a doctorate at the University of Wales in 1969. Later posts as

dean of science at Addis Ababa, keeper of the National Herbarium and

director of the Ethiopian Conservation Strategy Secretariat kept him in

touch with the agricultural needs of Ethiopia's people.

 

In 1995, he was made director general of the Environmental Protection

Authority of Ethiopia, in effect becoming the country's chief scientist

in agriculture. A strong critic of GMOs, he's a powerful voice in

lobbying on food safety. His most notable triumph came in negotiations on

biosafety in Cartagena, Colombia in 1999. Berhan acted as chief

negotiator for a group of southern hemisphere countries. He helped to

secure an

agreement to protect biosafety and biodiversity, while maintaining

respect for the traditional rights of the Third World population, gained

against strong opposition from the European Union and North America.

 

So why is organic farming the answer? Given low yields, poor soil and

drought, you'd think that industrial farming would help Ethiopia to

maximise production. Not so, Berhan says. " Organic farming deviates

little

from the natural environment in supplying nutrients to crops. We've

developed the ability to change things in a big way and, without

considering the consequences, we create disasters. Look at what

happened with

DDT.

 

" Organic farming disturbs nature as little as possible and reduces

those risks. Intensive farming has led to the exacerbation of pests and

diseases, and loss of flavour in food. "

 

These views are at odds with the " conventional " industry. Tony Combes,

the director of corporate affairs for Monsanto UK, a big player in the

GM market, says: " Going organic isn't the way to increase yields. But

then, neither is going totally GM. Farmers need solutions suitable for

local predicaments. This means choosing from a range of options -

organic, conventional and GM. If yields can be increased, that surplus

can be

sold. "

 

Berhan is undeterred. He has persuaded the Ethiopian government to let

him demonstrate his ideas in the Axum area of Ethiopia. Old

field-management techniques have been resurrected, while methods new

to the area,

like compost-making, have been successful.

 

Those who think organic farming means low yields will be surprised by

Berhan's evidence. " When well managed, and as fertility builds over

years, organic agriculture isn't inferior in yield. Now, farmers don't

want

chemical fertilisers. They say, 'Why should we pay for something we can

get for free?' "

 

Berhan expresses gratitude for the West's famine-relief efforts, but he

has reservations. " When countries want to help, they may not know how,

so the intention has to be appreciated. But if you go beyond the

intention and begin to dictate terms, it becomes more sinister. In

times of

shortage, making food aid available is helpful - for that year. If you

keep making it available, you discourage production. "

 

He believes there are times when food aid can be more about control by

Western governments than assistance. " The feeling is strong that this

is deliberate. I attended a meeting where farmers from the USA were

present. I told them a story I'd read about how rice production in

Liberia

was depressed because of cheap imports from the USA. The American

farmers said this was a deliberate policy by the US State Department

to make

countries dependent on them for food.

 

" I began to investigate and discovered that, while the EU has abandoned

its policy of providing food aid, initially sending money so that food

can be bought locally, the US still insists it will only give food in

kind. This makes me feel those farmers were right. "

 

Berhan insists on the necessity of further trials for GM crops, and

believes extreme caution should be used in their growth and trade. His

application for a visa to attend talks in Canada on GM labelling was

turned down earlier this year, suggesting that his influence is

feared. " We

were finalising the labelling of grain commodities, " he says. " A

compromise had been reached in 2000 for labelling to say, 'This

product may

contain GMOs,' but we wanted to toughen it up, to say, 'This product

contains these GMOs,' and to list them. "

 

He also contests that GMOs give higher yield. " This is mainly hype. So

far, there's not one GM crop that produces higher yields per acre than

conventional crops. They offer an economical advantage to farmers as

they can apply herbicide in large doses and not have to worry about

weeds: that's all. "

 

After protests from the media and groups such as Greenpeace, the visa

was granted. Dr Eric Darier, GM campaigner for Greenpeace Canada,

explained why it was so important that Berhan attended. " He is truly

one of

the key 'fathers' of the biosafety protocol, " Darier says. " It was

convenient for the Canadian government [to refuse the visa], as it

prevented

a major critic and opponent of pro-GM Canadian policy from attending

two of the three days of the workshop on liability. Canada has failed to

ratify the biosafety protocol. In view of the fact that the Canadian

government has done everything to undermine the efforts of the

international community to adopt a strict, effective biosafety

protocol, the

delays in issuing the visa are evidence of Canada's bad faith. "

 

Is Berhan bitter? Far from it. " I think [the visa refusal] was based on

a mistaken calculation. If anything, it gave the labelling issue higher

visibility. We told the Canadian government: either you accept

multilateral discussions, or the Office for the Commission of Biological

Diversity [based in Montreal], must move to another country. " The threat

worked.

 

Berhan's message is compelling - and he is in demand worldwide. In the

past month alone, he has travelled to Austria, the UK, Tunisia and

Norway. He returns to the UK in July to give a talk for the Soil

Association, where he will ask: " Can Organic Farming Feed the World? "

He is a

huge force in trying to prove that it can.

 

The Soil Association will be at the Royal Geographical Society in

London on Tuesday 12 July (0117 987 4586; www.soilassociation.org )

 

 

 

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