Genetic Engineering

Genetically engineered crops may produce herbicide inside our intestines, killing gut bacteria which are essential for our health.

Genetically modified (GM) crops currently account for 29% of crop production worldwide. South Africa is currently the only country in Africa to grow GM crops commercially.

When a German court ordered Monsanto to make public a controversial 90-day rat study on June 20, 2005, the data upheld claims by prominent scientists who said that animals fed the GM corn developed extensive health effects in the blood, kidneys and liver and that humans eating the corn might be at risk.

Genetically modified (GM) forest trees do not attract the same immediate health concerns as GE food crops. But in reality, they pose an even greater threat than GE crops because they impact directly on natural forests that are essential for the survival of our planet.

Africa is fast becoming a dumping ground for the GM industry and a laboratory for frustrated scientists. The proponents of GM technology sell a sweet message of GM crops bringing the second green revolution and the answer to African hunger, but a closer look makes it clear that GM crops have no place in African agriculture.

South Africa is the only country in Africa growing GE crops commercially. To our knowledge, it is the first place in the world where small-scale farmers have been introduced to GE crops.

All genetically modified (GM) food crops presently grown around the world were devised to consolidate corporate control of the worlds food supply by patenting food, to improve the reach of industrial agriculture, and to increase dependence on corporate inputs.

An update on the state of GMOs in South Africa.

We humans are certainly living at a defining moment in our history. Moreover this critical moment is being shaped by forces not generally foreseen.