See on Scoop.it – Virology News
Africa is expected to be the next target of GM food companies, as European scientists and policymakers travel to Ethiopia to boost the prospect of growing more of the controversial crops on the continent.
Anne Glover, the chief scientific adviser to the European commission, and other prominent pro-GM researchers and policymakers from European countries including Germany, Hungary, Italy and Sweden will this week meet Ethiopian, Kenyan, Ghanaian and Nigerian farm ministers as well as officials from the African Union.
And that’ll go down REALLY well: European governments and policymakers pushing GM crops in Africa, when their own people don’t want them?
Whether those reasons are stupid or not, and whether or not it is a good idea to plant GM in Africa, I can see a knee-jerk anti-Europe response could well work to completely screw up just what it is they are trying to do.
Consider: Zimbabwe and Zambia resolutely oppose even the import of GM maize as FOOD, let alone allowing the planting of it. Africans have a history of being VERY suspicious of outsiders bearing gifts – because there is a history of dumping stuff in Africa, of everything from suspect pharmaceuticals to excess chickens.
I predict a lead balloon result for this conference and for the initiative. Time for Europe to listen to the Kenyans, Burkinabe and South Africans about the merits of growing GM – and not the other way around!
See on www.theguardian.com
ViroBlogy 
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