TWN Info Service on Biosafety
24 April 2024
Third World Network
www.twn.my
Dear Friends and Colleagues
Impacts of Transgene Contamination on Small Farmers in South Africa
Several African countries – all of which have significant smallholder-based farming systems centred on the production of maize and its consumption as a staple food – are apparently poised to allow the commercial planting of GM maize.
A recent study found that transgene contamination of local seed systems and farmers’ fields in South Africa is common, but under-reported. Contamination takes place through several pathways, all usually beyond the farmers’ knowledge and capacity to detect: pollen flowing between adjacent GM and non-GM maize fields, seed recycling and sharing, the sale of incorrectly labelled seed, and the distribution of ‘free’ or subsidized seed by government agencies and seed companies.
Contamination negatively impacts agrobiodiversity, food security, farming practices, and traditional seed saving and exchange systems, and has also resulted in the deskilling of farmers. The contamination of traditional seed is also likely to have significant effects on farmer psychology, well-being, and morale. Farmers may perceive their own knowledge to be inadequate, leading to the loss of socioecological agency and farmer disempowerment.
Knowledge about the dynamics of transgene flow and the seed selection behaviour of farmers is of fundamental importance for small-scale farmers who prefer to cultivate and select GM-free varieties and/or landraces. There is also a risk of trans-border transgene flow. Indeed, many GM farming activities straddle the borders of South Africa and eSwatini, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique. This is likely to have multiple socio-ecological, economic and trans-border cultural political implications for affected smallholder communities.
With best wishes,
Third World Network
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SEEDSCAPES OF CONTAMINATION: EXPLORING THE IMPACTS OF TRANSGENE FLOW FOR SOUTH AFRICAN SMALLHOLDER FARMERS
Wynberg, R., & Hilbeck, A.
AFRICAN PERSPECTIVES ON AGROECOLOGY, 133.
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Rachel-Wynberg/publication/377922731_AFRICAN_PERSPECTIVES_ON_AGROECOLOGY_Why_farmer-led_seed_and_knowledge_systems_matter/links/65bd05281e1ec12eff6cdaac/AFRICAN-PERSPECTIVES-ON-AGROECOLOGY-Why-farmer-led-seed-and-knowledge-systems-matter.pdf#page=170
January 2024
Conclusion
Genetically modified crops have a myriad of consequences for smallholder farmers on the African continent and beyond, but little attention has been paid to the threats posed to farmer-managed seed systems by the contamination of GM seed. Although transgene flows are known to be widespread, the implications of this contamination for smallholder farmers are less well understood. Several African countries – all of which have significant smallholder-based farming systems centred on the production of maize and its consumption as a staple food – are now poised to allow the commercial planting of GM maize. The experiences of smallholder farmers in South Africa are thus likely to portend something similar for farmers elsewhere in the region. Findings suggest that transgene contamination of local seed systems and farmers’ fields in South Africa is common, but under-reported. Contamination takes place through several pathways, all usually beyond the farmers’ knowledge and capacity to detect: pollen flowing between adjacent GM and non-GM maize fields, seed recycling and sharing, the sale of incorrectly labelled seed, and the distribution of ‘free’ or subsidized seed by government agencies and seed companies. Contamination negatively impacts agrobiodiversity, food security, farming practices, and traditional seed saving and exchange systems, and has also resulted in the deskilling of farmers, who no longer know what they are planting and perceive their own knowledge to be inadequate. The contamination of traditional seed is also likely to have significant effects on farmer psychology, well-being, and morale. Farmer-led strategies to manage contamination are crucial, but setting them in place requires awareness-raising, as well as technical support and advice about the ways in which farming practices can be adjusted or managed to avoid contamination, and methods farmers can use to conduct their own research and testing. Ongoing dialogues within farming communities to enable landscape- and community-level interventions are a critical part of this strategy. Such actions might not only help mitigate the negative impacts of GM contamination, but also strengthen the agency of farmers and local farming communities to secure productive and healthy food systems.