Luiz Geraldo de Oliveira Moura by GRAIN | 10 Apr 2007 Seedling - April 2007 Luiz Geraldo de Oliveira Moura lives in Ceará in the semi-arid north-east of Brazil. Having seen for himself the damaging impact of the “green revolution”, he began working with peasant families and consumers on an alternative. At his instigation, families in the towns and families in the rural areas have been collaborating for more than a decade in a project geared to regenerating degraded land and to improving living standards for the rural poor. What has emerged is a strong “Social Alliance” that is transforming social relations. Luiz Geraldo de Oliveira Moura lives in Ceará in the semi-arid north-east of Brazil. Having seen for himself the damaging impact of the “green revolution”, he began working with peasant families and consumers on an alternative. At his instigation, families in the towns and families in the rural areas have been collaborating for more than a decade in a project geared to regenerating degraded land and to improving living standards for the rural poor. What has emerged is a strong “Social Alliance” that is transforming social relations.
Sharif Omar by GRAIN | 8 Apr 2007 Seedling - April 2007 Sharif Omar is a farmers’ leader in Jayyus, a small Palestinian village in the West Bank. Jayyus is not far from the green line – the border between Israel and the West Bank established in 1948. When the Israeli government began to build a concrete wall to separate Israel from land in the Occupied Territories that might eventually become a Palestinian state, they did not follow the green line. They routed it in such a way as to embrace the illegal Israeli settlements, and in the process hived off a good deal of Palestinian farmland. Jayyus is one of the villages that the wall has cut off from its people’s farms. Sharif Omar is a farmers’ leader in Jayyus, a small Palestinian village in the West Bank. Jayyus is not far from the green line – the border between Israel and the West Bank established in 1948. When the Israeli government began to build a concrete wall to separate Israel from land in the Occupied Territories that might eventually become a Palestinian state, they did not follow the green line. They routed it in such a way as to embrace the illegal Israeli settlements, and in the process hived off a good deal of Palestinian farmland. Jayyus is one of the villages that the wall has cut off from its people’s farms.
Global appeal against patents on conventional seeds and farm animals by GRAIN | 27 Mar 2007 BIO-IPR (1997-2009)
Bird flu: a bonanza for 'Big Chicken' by GRAIN | 13 Mar 2007 Corporations The bird flu crisis rages on. One year ago, when governments were fixated on getting surveillance teams into wetlands and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) was waving the finger of blame at Asia and Africa's abundant household poultry, GRAIN and other groups pointed out that large-scale industrial poultry farms and the global poultry trade were spreading bird flu -- not wild birds nor backyard flocks. Today, this has become common knowledge, even though little is being done to control the industrial source of the problem, and governments still shamelessly roll out the wild bird theory to dodge responsibility. Just a few weeks ago, Moscow authorities blamed migratory birds for an outbreak near the city -- in the middle of the Russian winter. A more sinister dimension of the bird flu crisis, however, is becoming more apparent. Last year, we warned that bird flu was being used to advance the interests of powerful corporations, putting the livelihoods and health of millions of people in jeopardy. Today, more than ever, agribusiness is using the calamity to consolidate its farm-to-factory-to-supermarket food chains as its small-scale competition is criminalised, while pharmaceutical companies mine the goodwill invested in the global database of flu samples to profit from desperate, captive vaccine markets. Two UN agencies -- FAO and the World Health Organisation (WHO) -- remain at the centre of this story, using their international stature, access to governments and control over the flow of donor funds to advance corporate agendas. The bird flu crisis rages on. One year ago, when governments were fixated on getting surveillance teams into wetlands and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) was waving the finger of blame at Asia and Africa's abundant household poultry, GRAIN and other groups pointed out that large-scale industrial poultry farms and the global poultry trade were spreading bird flu -- not wild birds nor backyard flocks. Today, this has become common knowledge, even though little is being done to control the industrial source of the problem, and governments still shamelessly roll out the wild bird theory to dodge responsibility. Just a few weeks ago, Moscow authorities blamed migratory birds for an outbreak near the city -- in the middle of the Russian winter. A more sinister dimension of the bird flu crisis, however, is becoming more apparent. Last year, we warned that bird flu was being used to advance the interests of powerful corporations, putting the livelihoods and health of millions of people in jeopardy. Today, more than ever, agribusiness is using the calamity to consolidate its farm-to-factory-to-supermarket food chains as its small-scale competition is criminalised, while pharmaceutical companies mine the goodwill invested in the global database of flu samples to profit from desperate, captive vaccine markets. Two UN agencies -- FAO and the World Health Organisation (WHO) -- remain at the centre of this story, using their international stature, access to governments and control over the flow of donor funds to advance corporate agendas.
Africa's Wealth of Seed Diversity and Farmer Knowledge--Under threat from the Gates/ Rockefeller 'Green Revolution' initiative by | 13 Mar 2007
Peasant seeds are the way forward for Africa's food sovereignty [EN|FR] by GRAIN | 23 Feb 2007 BIO-IPR (1997-2009)