Zombie seeds will punish farmers and make food crisis worse

In the wake of food crisis talks in Rome the EU and, by implication, British taxpayers are contributing to the development of a new GM 'Terminator' technology that would put the livelihoods of 1.4billion of the world's poorest farmers at risk, warns Progressio.

A £3.4 million EU research project is developing what are known as 'Zombie' seeds - sterile seeds that can only be brought back to life with the application of a chemical. This threatens the traditional practice of saving and re-sowing seeds, on which poor farmers in the developing world rely to feed their families and make a living.

If commercialised, farmers would have to buy chemicals each year to restore Zombie seeds' fertility, forcing them into a cycle of dependency with large seed companies that control a global seed market worth $19billion. The seed companies would be the only beneficiaries.

In a letter published in the Independent newspaper in the UK, Michelle Lowe, a development worker in Ecuador with Progressio, argues that poor farmers don't want 'solutions' like Zombie.

"If world leaders are genuinely committed to tackling world hunger, they need to support agricultural practices that promote self-sufficiency and autonomy of poor farmers rather than developing GM technologies like Zombie which would make the food crises even worse", she writes.

Michelle has first-hand experience of the benefits of local practices such as 'seed saving' by subsistence farmers. One local farmer recently told her: "We have seeds here which we have planted, collected and replanted for thousands of years. They have provided food for generations of our families. I also want these seeds to feed my grandchildren, great grandchildren and great-great grandchildren. It is vital that we save our native seeds."

The UK had signalled that it wants world leaders meeting in Rome to agree to emergency seeds and fertilisers for farmers who can no longer afford them. But Progressio's environmental policy officer, Sol Oyeula, contends that a significant part of the solution in the quest for sustainable food supplies lies with supporting the local practices of small farmers in poor communities around the world.

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