Photo: Small scale maize production in Western Tanzania.
Some South African farmers have found out what can happen when genetically modified organisms (GM) go wrong. 200,000 hectares of Monsanto's GM maize, an important staple crop in many African countries, failed to produce anything but stalks.
Monsanto have compensated the commercial farmers, who are not allowed to speak out about the affair. Some resource poor farmers were also provided with the disasterous seed but it is not clear if they have been compensated in any way.
The South African GM regulatory authority appears not to have taken any steps to challenge Monsanto about this incident and Monsanto has remained customarily secretive about it. Three separate varieties of their grain suffered from the same problem.
If you would like this incident to be investigated, would like companies like Monsanto to be obliged to explain what went wrong and to ensure that GM organisms are properly monitored in the future, you can sign a petition organised by the African Centre for Biosafety. Sphere: Related Content
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