Canada, along with 188 other countries, committed itself to achieving the Millennium Goals by 2015. A major goal is reducing hunger and ensuring environmental sustainability. However, the Canadian Government (along with most of those other countries) are failing to honour commitments. “Canada is invisible in the campaign to halve global hunger,” says the Canadian Foodgrains Bank,a non-profit organization working to end hunger in developing countries.Ten years ago, at the World Food Summit, Canada played a major role. We heard a passionate commitment from Canada that year and we were hopeful that our contribution to ending hunger would grow. Now, ten years later, the strong voice has been diminished to barely a whimper. "It’s hard to understand how we’ve come to this point.” (November 2006 press release)
The Canadian Government’s efforts to support Terminator seed go is a direct renege on a commitment previously agreed under the Millennium Goals, which require supporting small-scale farmers, not multi-national corporations.1.4 billion people around the world depend on farmer-saved seeds for their survival. The right to save seeds is a crucial part of the human right to food.The Canadian Government promised , however, with the help of Australia, New Zealand and some major biotechnology companies, to overthrow the moratorium. Recognizing its inherent dangers, governments attending meetings of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity created an international moratorium on Terminator technology in 2000.
But this basic right is threatened by Terminator technology which genetically engineers plants to produce sterile seeds after first harvest and, if introduced, would force farmers to purchase seeds every year from transnational seed corporations.
If allowed to proceed, Terminator technology, would transfer control over the world’s seed supply from the hands of farmers to the monopoly control of large corporations. It would also threaten the biodiversity of agriculture and the health of the planet’s food supply.“Terminator is a direct assault on farmers and indigenous cultures and on food sovereignty. It threatens the well-being of all rural people, primarily the very poorest,” says Rafael Alegría of Via Campesina, an organization representing over 10 million peasant farmers worldwide.“ Preventing farmers from re-planting saved seed will increase economic injustice all over the world,” says the World Council of Churches, which has called for action to stop Terminator technology."Terminator will rear its ugly head at the next UN Convention on Biological Diversity meeting in 2008. The only solution is a total ban on the technology once and for all,” says Pat Mooney of ETC Group. "Now all national governments must enact national bans on Terminator as Brazil and India have done."
"Terminator directly threatens our life, our culture and our identity as Indigenous peoples", said Viviana Figueroa of the Ocumazo indigenous community in Argentina on behalf of the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity, who are calling for a world ban on Terminator technology.
Terminator and Corporate Control
of the World’s Seeds
Purpose of Terminator
The only purpose of Terminator is to make seeds sterile. Terminator refers to plants that have been genetically engineered to render sterile seeds at harvest (it is also called Genetic Use Restriction Technology or GURTS) through an inducible molecular mechanism, which means that the gene for seed sterility or germination can be turned on or off from the outside – by treating the plants with a chemical or other factor. Terminator technology was developed by the multinational seed/agrochemical industry and the United States government to prevent farmers from saving and re-planting harvested seed. Terminator has not yet been commercialized or field-tested but tests are currently being conducted in greenhouses in the United States
Corporate Control
Ten seed companies control half of the world’s commercial seed sales. One company, Monsanto, accounted for almost 90% of the total GM crop area worldwide in 2004. Monsanto also controls 41% of the global maize market and over one-fourth of the commercial soybean market (both conventional and GM seed). If Terminator is commercialized, seed companies will be quick to incorporate Terminator traits into all commercial varieties. Ultimately, this means fewer choices for farmers.
World’s Top 10 Seed Companies (millions), 2004
1. Monsanto* (includes Seminis) $2,803
2. Dupont* $2600
3. Syngenta* $1239
4. Limagrain $1044
5. KWS $622
6. Land O’Lakes $538
7. Sakata $416
8. Bayer $387
9. Takii $366
10. DLF-Trifolium $320
Source: ETC Group, September 2005, “Global Seed Industry Concentration – 2005”, www.etcgroup.org
Corporate Control of Seed Increases Hunger
“Taking control of seeds away from farmers actually causes more hunger,” says the Institute for Food and Development Policy, otherwise known as Food First. “Corporate concentration of our food system will continue to destroy the lives and livelihoods of millions of small farmers throughout the world (…) unless we take steps to promote proven, earth friendly alternatives.”“Our research proves that diversified family farms are far more productive than large corporate farms.”Food First was founded by Frances Moore Lappe, author of Diet For A Small Planet, to build a just global food system. www.foodfirst.org.
To learn more about Terminator and international farmer protest,we encourage you to visit http://www.banterminator.org
Canadian Council for International Co-operation:
Click on ‘Campaigns’ and ‘Canadian Food Security
Policy Group’.FIAN International, Defending the Right to Food Worldwide: It provides information on campaigns around the world to achieve the right to food.