The fact that the Americans failed to force genetically modified crops and food onto developing countries was one of the successes of the Jo’burg Summit.

“I have never seen so many environmental ministers hugging each other as when the proposal went down,” said one British negotiator.
After an impassioned plea from Ethiopia, a clause in the summit’s plan of action, which would have given the World Trade Organisation powers over international treaties on the environment, was rejected. The clause would have allowed the WTO to stop developing countries refusing to take GM imports.

Meanwhile the International Society for Ecology and Culture reports that sustainable, agriculture is increasing yields without using GM. Nearly a quarter of a million farmers in Brazil and 200,000 in Kenya have doubled their maze yields using green manures, while 45,000 farmers in Guatemala and Honduras have regenerated upland farms, tripling their maize yields and encouraging people to move back from the cities.
Coffee yields in Mexico have increased by fifty per cent since 100,000 small farmers adopted organic methods.
FURTHER INFORMATION : ISEC, Foxhole, Dartington, Devon, TQ9 6EB. Tel: 01803 868650
WEB SITE : http://​www​.isec​.org​.uk