Tag Archives: Africa

Hillary Clinton loves biotech and she doesn’t love climate change denial

Posted on June 28, 2014 by argylesock

Here’s a report about Hillary Clinton’s opinions on biotechnology and climate change. Mrs Clinton may, or may not, aim to become President of the United States. She makes clear in this report that she loves crop biotech. ‘[A]s U.S. Secretary … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, food, weather and climate | Tagged Africa, America, biotechnology, climate, genetic modification, politics | 2 Comments

Biofortified GM bananas

Posted on June 22, 2014 by argylesock

James Dale is a scientist at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT, Australia). His lab has developed a genetically modified (GM, genetically engineered) banana (Musa × paradisiaca) rich in ‘pro-vitamin A’. Here’s the QUT report. This is the ‘super banana’ … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, food, horticulture, knowledge transfer | Tagged Africa, Agrobacterium tumefaciens, America, Asia, banana, banana Cavendish, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, biodiversity, biofortification, biotechnology, breeding, carotenoid, child, conservation, cotton, crop diversity, crop variety, development, East African cooking banana, food security, food sovereignty, fruit, fruit variety, gene, gene gun, genetic modification, iron, land grab, local variety, marker assisted backcrossing, micronutrient, Monsanto, nutrition, patent, plantain, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, poverty, pro-vitamin A, Provit Banana, research, rice, Scuba rice, seed, soya, staple food, super banana, tissue culture, trade, Vitamin A | 2 Comments

Green light for GM?

Posted on June 21, 2014 by argylesock

Steve Connor at the Independent told us, three months ago, of advice to our UK Government about genetically modified (GM, genetically engineered) crops. Our Government’s Chief Scientific Advisor, Prof Sir Mark Walport, led a team advising that Britain, and the … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, food, knowledge transfer | Tagged Africa, biotechnology, breeding, crop, development, Europe, farmer, food security, genetic modification, law, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, population, research, selective breeding, smallholder, sustainable, trade, Walport_Mark | 3 Comments

The new scramble for Africa (part 1)

Posted on June 20, 2014 by argylesock

Originally posted on ECO-opia:
. With the African continent home to the majority of the world’s fastest-growing economies, urban consumer markets and a wealth of natural resources, it’s perhaps not surprising that some of the world’s largest corporations, from Monsanto…

Posted in agriculture, food, horticulture, knowledge transfer, money and trade | Tagged Africa, aid, Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa, Asia, breeding, development, DuPont, Europe, farmer, fertiliser, finance, food security, food sovereignty, G8, history, knowledge, local variety, Monsanto, New Alliance, nutrition, pesticide, politics, prosperity, seed, smallholder, Syngenta, trade, tradition, World Development Movement, Yara | Leave a comment

Special bananas: Africa’s answer to Golden Rice?

Posted on June 18, 2014 by argylesock

Oluwabusayo Sotunde (writing as Busayo in Ventures Africa) tells us about a ‘special banana’ (Musa × paradisiaca) rich in alpha-carotene and beta-carotene. After eating those carotenes, the body converts them to Vitamin A. So they’re ‘provitamins’. This new genetically modified … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, horticulture, human health, knowledge transfer | Tagged Africa, America, Asia, banana, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, biodiversity, biofortification, biotechnology, child, development, food sovereignty, fruit, fruit variety, genetic modification, Golden Rice, grain, Green Revolution, nutrition, plantain, plant_monocot, Provit Banana, research, rice, staple food, tree, Vitamin A, woman | 6 Comments

Roundup weedkiller and Roundup Ready crops

Posted on June 9, 2014 by argylesock

The world’s most popular weedkiller is called Roundup. It’s used in gardens, on farms and in public places. Many of the world’s most popular genetically modified (GM, genetically engineered) crops are called Roundup Ready. You can spray these crops with … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, ecology, horticulture, knowledge transfer | Tagged Africa, Agrobacterium tumefaciens, America, Asia, bacterium, Bayer, biotechnology, crop, Europe, farm, garden, genetic modification, glyphosate, herbicide, herbicide resistance, history, International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications, Monsanto, patent, pesticide, pesticide resistance, plant_dicot, plant_gymnosperm, plant_monocot, Roundup, Roundup Ready crop, Syngenta, trade, weed | 12 Comments

No seeds, no future

Posted on June 8, 2014 by argylesock

Biowatch South Africa shows us a film about agroecology and food sovereignty. ‘We accept maize seeds from the Department of Agriculture, but we don’t plant those GM seeds. We feed them to chickens.’

Posted in agriculture, food | Tagged Africa, agroecology, biotechnology, bird, chicken, corn, crop, crop variety, development, family farm, feed, food, food sovereignty, genetic modification, grain, livestock, local variety, maize, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, poultry, seed, seedbank, smallholder, subsistence, trade, tradition, vegetable, vegetable variety, vertebrate | 2 Comments

Invest More in Agriculture Not Industries

Posted on June 4, 2014 by argylesock

Originally posted on Foundation for Young Farmers:
A very appropriate theme when Africa is rising, was one of my first thoughts. Participants were researchers, academics, policymakers from the UN, AU, governments and NGOs as well as people like me who…

Posted in agriculture | Tagged Africa, Asia, city, development, Green Revolution, land grab, politics, poverty, prosperity, rural, smallholder, young person | Leave a comment

Is the GM crops war over? What’s next?

Posted on May 31, 2014 by argylesock

GM (genetically modified, genetically engineered) crops are a fact of life by now. In our interconnected world (remember the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, TTIP, which might be finalised soon) I think that people who oppose GM crops may have … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, fish, food, horticulture, miniculture, money and trade | Tagged Africa, America, aquaculture, Asia, biodiversity, biotechnology, Bt crop, commodity crop, crop diversity, development, Dow, entomoculture, Europe, evolution, farmer, feed, finfish, fisher, foraging, genetic modification, hunting, insect, International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications, invertebrate, Monsanto, neglected crop, pesticide resistance, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, population, Roundup Ready crop, shellfish, soya, staple food, superbug, superweed, Swaminathan_Monkombu, trade, tradition, Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, vertebrate, wild food | 10 Comments

Soya to grow with 2,4-D

Posted on May 30, 2014 by argylesock

Crops genetically modified (GM, genetically engineered) to resist Monsanto’s weedkiller Roundup (glyphosate) aren’t the only GM crops designed to be grown with weedkiller. GRAIN tells us about a new such crop. It’s a soya (soybean, Glycine max) designed to be … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, food, human health, knowledge transfer | Tagged 2 4-D, Africa, America, ammonium, Asia, auxin, biotechnology, brain, cancer, commodity crop, corn, cotton, crop variety, Dow, evolution, feed, food, Frontline, genetic modification, glufosinate, glyphosate, herbicide, herbicide resistance, history, hormone, human, kidney, liver, maize, milk, Monsanto, muscle, neurotoxin, patent, pesticide, pesticide resistance, plant_dicot, poison, Roundup, Roundup Ready crop, soya, soya DAS-44406-6, superweed, tree, vegetation, war, weed, woman | 3 Comments