BRAVE NEW SEEDS : THREAT OF TRANSGENIC CROPS TO FARMERS IN THE SOUTH

Consumers have taken the lead in rejecting the biotech industry's determination to foist GMOs on an unsuspecting, and unconsulted, public. This book gives a voice for the first time to farmers. They are the people being pressured by half a dozen giant corporaitons to grow these genetically engineered crops. What are the possible downsides for them, particularly for those hundreds of millions of farmers living in the developing countries? On their environment? On their health? On their independence? On their tenuous hold in the marketplace? This book comes out of a dialogue between farmers' representatives and scientists and others knowledgeable about the issue. The result is explanations of what is happening, what is at stake, and clear statement of principles and urgently needed measures which should guide governments and communities in bringing this profit-motivated deployment of scientific power under democratic control. Franck Seuret is a journalist specialising in rural development, economics and biotechnology. Robert Ali Brac de la Perriere is an international consultant in the organization, training and management of plant genetic resource programmes.