Tanzania Orders Destruction of Monsanto / Gates’ GM Trials Due to Illegal Use for Pro-GM Propaganda

Tanzanian civil society organisations (CSOs) welcome the decision of the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Mathew Mtigumwe, to bring an immediate stop to all ongoing GM field trials taking place in the country. These are under the auspices of the Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA) project which includes Monsanto, the Gates Foundation and national research centres. This decision has since been verified by the newly appointed Minister of Agriculture, Japheth Hasunga in latest media reports.

In a report issued by the Ministry, the Permanent Secretary ordered, with immediate effect, the cessation of all field trial operations and the destruction of all “the remnants” of the trials at the Makutupora Centre in Dodoma, where trials were taking place. This decision has come after the Tanzania Agriculture Research Institute (TARI) released the results of the trials without the necessary authorisation, when it invited certain members of the public, including the well-known pro GM lobbyist, Mark Lynas, to witness how ‘well’ the GM crops were performing. TARI also hosted a recent excursion to the trial site by the Parliamentary Committee on Food and Agriculture.

Unauthorised access to trial sites indicates collusion between biotech lobbyists and GM researchers paid by the Gates Foundation and others. Mark Lynas’s unethical social media hype uses Tanzania’s smallholder farmers in an instrumentalist way as a means to justify the introduction of GMO crops in the country, claiming that Tanzanians are poor and hungry. The statements of the pro-GM scientists have not yet been corroborated by the Ministry of Agriculture or related institutions such as the Tanzania Official Seed Certification Institute (TOSCI).

The biotech machinery both in Tanzania and elsewhere has supported a well-funded media campaign to spread pro GM propaganda and to push for the adoption of GM maize in the country, despite the questionable benefits for smallholder farmers. They have consistently made unsubstantiated claims about the GM varieties, including superior drought tolerance and resistance to fall army worm. In a media report ‘New push in pipeline for acceptance of GMO seed’, GMO trials were hailed as a “success” with the Director General of TARI claiming that ‘GMO seeds are a solution to the longstanding problems of pest invasions in farms across Tanzania’. These  unsubstantiated claims were made on the effectiveness of the insect resistant Bt trait -MON 810 – that was ‘donated’ to WEMA countries even though it has been phased out in South Africa due to massive and widespread insect resistance.

That the claims are unsubstantiated was confirmed by the recent decision of South African biosafety authorities to reject Monsanto’s application for commercial release of its triple stacked GM drought tolerant maize, MON 87460 x MON 89034 x NK 603. The decision was made on the grounds that the field trial data insufficiently demonstrated the claimed drought and insect resistant efficacy of the GM event. MON 87460 is currently being field trialed in Kenya, Uganda and Mozambique where the WEMA project is also active. The decision to stop the trials is another blow to the WEMA project following so soon after the South African decision.

Farmers’ organisations including Mtandao wa Vikundi vya Wakulima Tanzania (MVIWATA), the national smallholder farmers’ organisation, other CSOs, academics from the University of Dar es Salaam and members of the scientific community and the public within and outside the country, have openly criticized the WEMA project and the GM trials taking place in Tanzania. In a recent letter to a local newspaper, MVIWATA strongly expressed the view that “farmers have called for our government not to allow GMOs to be used in the country for obvious reasons that neither farmers nor the nation shall benefit from GMOs”.

Organisations have condemned threats by local scientists, who are paid by WEMA, to push for further revisions of the country’s biosafety regulations. The aim of proposed revisions is to change from strict liability to fault based provisions to allow the commercial release of the GM crops once the trials were completed. Strict liability means that whoever introduces GMOs into the environment is directly legally responsible for any damage, injury or loss caused. Fault-based provisions mean that the fault or negligence of whoever introduces a GMO will first have to be proven.

According to Janet Maro from Sustainable Agriculture Tanzania (SAT)

“the move by the Permanent Secretary comes at a critical time when almost all media houses are publishing the pro biotech propaganda about the successes of the field trials without a shred of solid research data to back up their claims. We call upon the Permanent Secretary to encourage researchers to carry out farmer-centered research aimed at addressing current pressing challenges and to explore using locally available solutions to ensure sustainability and wider adoption of locally researched practices and technologies.”

Dr. Richard Mbunda a food sovereignty researcher and lecturer from the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at the University of Dar es Salaam  also supported the view, recently writing an open letter to the President questioning the deployment of GM technology in the country.

Sabrina Masinjila, Tanzania-based research and advocacy officer at the African Centre for Biodiversity says,

“we hope that this decision will help the government rethink investments when it comes to agricultural research. Rather than spending huge amounts of scarce public resources on failed and discredited GM technology, we should focus on strengthening existing research institutions, and support participatory farmer research on seed systems aimed at strengthening seed, food and national sovereignty.”

*

Note to readers: please click the share buttons above. Forward this article to your email lists. Crosspost on your blog site, internet forums. etc.

Featured image is from ACB

Views: 273

Comment

You need to be a member of 12160 Social Network to add comments!

Join 12160 Social Network

Comment by Inretrospect on December 3, 2018 at 3:34pm

If they are going to ban GMO crops, then they must make sure they destroy everything GMO.

https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/insight/heavy-price-tag-gmo-conta...

Good for Tanzania!

"Destroying the New World Order"

TOP CONTENT THIS WEEK

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THE SITE!

mobile page

12160.info/m

12160 Administrators

 

Latest Activity

tjdavis posted a video

CHARLIE KIRK VIDEO THAT KEEPS GETTING REMOVED OFF OF SEVERAL PLATFORMS

I had not planned to share this publicly, but I believe Advar, who spoke with Charlie Kirk while I was very ill, would have wanted me to. After my interview ...
8 hours ago
pohonemas33 team commented on Chris of the family Masters's photo
Thumbnail

Gold-Coast-Message

"untuk bermain slot, kamu cukup kunjungi situs kacang99 pasti langsung gacor"
15 hours ago
Doc Vega posted blog posts
17 hours ago
Doc Vega posted blog posts
yesterday
Burbia posted a blog post

Former President Trump?

When was this article written? It is attributed to Victor Davis Hanson. He is a Fellow at Hoover…See More
Tuesday
Doc Vega posted a blog post

Don’t Go Hunting For Bigfoot

It is October 19, 2019 at 5:46 AM. This will be the last time any visual evidence of Mark is seen…See More
Monday
tjdavis posted a video

Most Corrupt Series: Elizabeth Warren | Forgotten History

Elizabeth Warren has built her reputation as a "reformer", but her political career has also drawn sharp criticism. Questions have been raised about her fina...
Saturday
Doc Vega commented on Doc Vega's blog post Ashrams and Moonies Perfect Case for Mind Control
"less prone, Thanks for your support Buddy! "
Sep 18
Doc Vega posted a photo

main-thumb-ti-6724328-100-cnsgqkrgkrhyeyyerazynmuwoplecnbx

When will they put Trump on Mt. Rushmore?
Sep 18
Doc Vega's 4 blog posts were featured
Sep 18
Burbia's blog post was featured

Charlie Kirk Assassination

September 10th 2025 in Utah Turning Point USA CEO has been assassinated. Coincidentally,  answering…See More
Sep 18
Charles Magus's blog post was featured

FURTHER PROOF OF WALK-INS! Prisoners of the Dulce Base by Sherry Shriner

There is a real connection between the Cabal and what is happening at this Undergroung…See More
Sep 18
Less Prone favorited Doc Vega's blog post Ashrams and Moonies Perfect Case for Mind Control
Sep 18
Less Prone commented on tjdavis's blog post Sentient World Simulation
"Cannot open the link"
Sep 18
Tina Sullivan is now a member of 12160 Social Network
Sep 18
Doc Vega posted blog posts
Sep 17
Sandy posted a video

We’re cooked

We’re cooked
Sep 17
Sandy posted a photo
Sep 17
tjdavis posted a video

Tom Horn discusses Masonic view of 2025

Startling perspective by Tom Horn of the upcoming year: 2025
Sep 16
cheeki kea posted a photo
Sep 16

© 2025   Created by truth.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

content and site copyright 12160.info 2007-2019 - all rights reserved. unless otherwise noted