It is not that farmers are against new technologies, so long as these technologies will not force and destroy our indigenous seed varieties, will not change our native farming systems knowledge and will not render us helpless and at the mercy of the Trans National Companies to monopolize even on what we eat. -Mr Moses Shaha, Chairman of the Kenya Small Scale Farmers Forum (Kenya Times, 25 August 2004) 1. The Thika Declaration on GMOs Statement from the Kenya Small Scale Farmers Forum, 20 August, 2004 2. Biosafety Bill Endangers Kenya: Media release from Kenya Small Scale Farmers Forum (KESSFF), Participatory Ecological Land Use Management (PELUM), Action Aid, Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG), ECOTERRA Intl, Bridge Africa, INADES and Southern & Eastern Africa Trade Information Network Initiative (SEATINI), 2 September 2004 3. Multi-National Firms Accused Over GMOs Article from The East African Standard (Kenya), 23 August 2004 http://allafrica.com/stories/200408230733.html **************************** 1. The Thika Declaration on GMOs Statement from the Kenya Small Scale Farmers Forum 20 August, 2004 We, the Kenya Small Scale Farmers Forum leaders, representing crop farmers, pastoralists and fisherfolk, do declare today, August 20th 2004, that farming is our livelihood and not just a trade. Farming has been passed down from generation to generation, and is now threatened by Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). GMOs are a danger to food security and our indigenous gene pool. Patented GMO crops threaten farmers ability to save and share their indigenous seeds which have stood the test of time. Thus they will reduce our seed security and food security, without the long and short term effects on our health and environment being known. GMOs will hand control of our food systems to the multinational companies, who have created these seeds for financial gain, and not for our need. These new seeds may create conflict between farmers due to the risks of cross pollination from GMO to non GMO crops leading to contamination between farms. GMOs will increase costs for farmers. This new kind of agriculture has been produced using a complicated and expensive process called genetic engineering. To make their profits back from the farmers, the companies patent the GMO seeds, which leads to higher costs for farmers, who are then forbidden from saving and sharing their seeds for planting the following season. If the seeds fail, farmers are left in great destitution. The agrochemicals associated with GM crops will oblige farmers to pay the high prices set by the companies, and replace the need for paid farm labour, thereby threatening our livelihoods. GMOs threaten Kenyas environment. A clean environment is a fundamental right for all. GMOs on the contrary are contaminative, unfriendly to our biodiversity, and pose a threat to the existence of our indigenous seeds, to organic farming systems, and to human and animal health in general. Our government is being arm-twisted to accept GMOs by multinationals, without considering the effects on small scale farmers. Small scale farmers in Kenya should be included in policy formulation on agriculture research and food security. Government should invest in irrigation, improvement of infrastructure, appropriate technologies, marketing, subsidies, credit, farm inputs and better rangeland management, and NOT ON GMOs. We believe that God created life, and no one can own it, not even Monsanto, Syngenta or other multinational companies. We therefore reject all GMOs in agriculture, and call upon the Kenyan government to respect our indigenous expertise. Therefore to be able to fully understand the effects of GMOs on our livelihoods, health and environment, we demand a twenty-year moratorium on GMOs in Kenya. ********************************** Media release: BIOSAFETY BILL ENDANGERS KENYA Draft Biosafty Bill Will not Protect Kenya from the Risks of GMOS Thursday 2nd September 2004 Kenyas draft Bill on Biosafety is flawed, and does not do enough to protect Kenyan agriculture, people and environment from the potential risks of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), said a coalition of farmers groups, environmentalists, and development NGOs today. Parliament is due to debate the Biosafety draft Bill that is supposed to regulate the import of GMOs and provide protection for Kenyans. GMOs are organisms (for example crops such as maize) that have been genetically engineered with genes transferred from different species (such as bacteria) to confer new traits (such as resistance to stem borer pests). Farmers groups, environmentalists and NGOs are concerned that these new organisms, which are patented, will contaminate Kenyan seeds and pose a risk to farming livelihoods, the environment, and human and animal health. The groups were responding to the National Council of Science and Technologys announcement last week that the Bill has been developed and has been forwarded to Parliament awaiting approval. A Biosafety Bill should provide protection to Kenyans and the environment, and ensure that the future of Kenyas agriculture and farmers is not compromised. Said Moses Shaha, chairman of Kenya Small Scale Farmers Forum (KESSFF). There are many possible risks from the widespread use of GMOs, and any Bill must seek to minimise the likelihood of these risks. Eric Kisiangani of Intermediate Technology Development Group - East Africa (ITDG-EA) added, Kenyas Biosafety Bill needs to be rigorous and should have strong safety standards to regulate any import, growth and use of GMOs. However this draft Bill seems to be more of a mechanism to facilitate and approve GMOs, rather than to regulate them. Neither the Kenyan people nor civil society or environmental groups have been consulted in the drafting of the Biosafety Bill. Said Oduor Ongwen of Southern and East Africa Trade Information Network Initiative (SEATINI). Perhaps that is why the Kenyan draft Bill does not even conform to the minimum standards recommended under the international UN Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, as shown by legal experts affiliated to the African Union. There are better and cheaper options than GMOs for tackling the problems faced by Kenyan farmers, which do not jeopardize Kenyan interests or endanger our people and nature. Pointed out Thari Kulissa of ECOTERRA Intl. For example, the International Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), has shown how intercropping with napier grass and desmodium can protect against stemborers and weeds, increase soil fertility and provide fodder for cattle. Why do we need expensive and risky GMOs when we already have the answers? Zachary Makanya of Participatory Ecological Land Use Management (PELUM) added, Our organisations have come together out of concern that the Kenyan government is rushing to allow GMOs into our agriculture, without considering the damaging effects, precautionary measures on how to prevent them, or means to compensate farmers and consumers who are harmed by them. The safety of GMOs has not been proven, and we should not just assume that organisms with genes from completely different species like bacteria are safe for us to eat or plant. These new organisms must not be allowed to contaminate our seeds. GMO crops are patented, which means that farmers pay higher prices for seeds, and are forbidden from saving or sharing their seed for the following season. GMOs therefore have huge potential to harm Kenyan farmers livelihoods. The Biosafety Bill must reflect these concerns and potential dangers. But the current draft fails to do so. NOTES TO EDITORS: 1) This statement has been made by a coalition of farmers groups, environmentalists and development NGOs, including: Kenya Small Scale Farmers Forum (KESSFF), Participatory Ecological Land Use Management (PELUM), Action Aid, Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG), ECOTERRA Intl, Bridge Africa, INADES and Southern & Eastern Africa Trade Information Network Initiative (SEATINI). 2) The National Council of Science and Technology announced on August 25th that the draft Bill had been developed during a workshop in Nakuru. See East African Standard, GM Foods Bill Ready, Says Officer 26th August 2004 http://allafrica.com/stories/200408260325.html 3) The UN Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety is an internationally agreed protocol on the minimum standards and procedures that countries should implement to ensure prevention of risks from GMOs. It entered into force on 11 September 2003. Kenya is a signatory. 4) Kenyan farmers are concerned about the effects that GMO crops will have on their agriculture and indigenous seeds. See Kenya Small Scale Farmers Forum: The Thika Declaration on GMOs August 20th 2004 http://www.grain.org/research/contamination.cfm?id=161 And Farmers Reject GM Food Crops Kenya Times 25 August 2004 http://www.kentimes.com/25aug04/nwsstory/news19.html 5) For further information on Genetically Modified Organisms and Genetic Engineering, please visit the FOCUS ON AFRICA link at http://www.gmwatch.org 6) For further information on this statement please contact: Eric Kisiangani (ITDG) +254-20-271 3540 Zachary Makanya (PELUM) +254-67-31 686 Thari Kulissa (ECOTERRA Intl) +254-20-88 26 58 Action Aid +254-20-444 0 444 ******************************** 3. Multi-National Firms Accused Over GMOs Article from The East African Standard (Kenya). Date: 23 August 2004 http://allafrica.com/stories/200408230733.html The newly-registered Kenya Small-Scale Farmers Forum yesterday claimed that the Government was being arm-twisted by multinationals to accept genetically modified food whose consumers become infertile as recently proved by German sheepkeepers. The group representing farmers, pastoralists and the fishermen further expressed fear that as famine continued, some developed countries offering food aid might slip into the country the terminator technology seeds that threaten farmers' ability to save and share indigenous seeds which have stood the test of time. During a news conference in Thika, national chairman Moses Shaha said GMOs posed a great danger to food security and other indigenous gene pool because they were dormant and would mix through cross pollination. This will hand over control of our food system to multi-national companies who have created these seeds for financial gain increasing costs for farmers through the use of agrochemicals association with GM crops replacing the need for farm labour. Shaha said GMOs threatened Kenya's environment as it was contaminative and unfriendly to bio diversity posing a threat to the existence of indigenous seeds, organic farming system, human and animal health.