PARLIAMENT IS “TAKING US FOR A RIDE” OVER PLANT BREEDERS BILL – FARMERS: A REJOINDER BY THE CSO PLATFORM CAMPAIGNING FOR FOOD SOVEREIGNTY IN GHANA.

The attention of the members of the CSO Platform for Food Sovereignty  has been drawn to the article purported to have been written by the vice President of the Ghana National  Association of Farmers and Fishermen (GNAFF), Mr. John Awuku Dziwornu on behalf of Farmers of Ghana.

While not denying the existence of GNAFF, we the members of CSO Platform wish to dissociate ourselves and the millions of Peasant and small rural farmers from the statement made by Mr Awuku that farmers are disappointed with Parliament for deferring the  passage of the Plant Breeders Bill. The statement may be representing the views of Mr Dziwornu and the Association to which he is Vice President and not the farmers and CSOs in Ghana. The CSO Platform comprises the following CSOs in Ghana:

1. The Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG)
2. Food Sovereignty Ghana
3. Agricultural Sovereignty Ghana
4. Centre for Indigenous Knowledge and Organizational Development (CIKOD)
5. General Agricultural Workers Union
6. Catholic Bishops Conference
7. Ghana Muslims Mission
8. National House of Chiefs
9. Christian Council of Ghana
10. Food span
11. Ghana Trade and Livelihoods Coalition

 The CSO Platform, together with the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana, represents the vast majority of small rural farmers, fisher folks, consumers and ordinary citizens. The CSO Platform in collaboration with the PFAG have on several occasions made known our concerns over the Plant Breeders’ Bill to the effect that the bill as it is currently drafted seeks to favour the formal seed and food system dominated by the few multi-national commercial seed producers. The bill paths the way for the entry of Genetically Modified Organisms into the Ghana food system as a counter to proven traditional seeds and food systems that have been developed by local farmers through rigorous seed development process over millennia. Our plea to Parliament has been  to stop the passage of the PBB as it is and  give our rural farmers, consumers and ordinary citizens the chance to decide what type of food system most suits the majority of the population in Ghana.

In this regard, the overwhelming call is for Parliament to adopt the “Suis generis” system that allows for small rural, farmers and consumers to contribute their ecological knowledge and farm practices developed over millennia to the design the food system that suits their cultural, social and spiritual needs.

The current process opens a wide door to profit hungry industrialists whose aim is to maximize profits rather than meet the food needs of the population. The major players in the global food system including the FAO and UN institutions have acknowledged the value of Africa’s traditional ecological knowledge and family farm practices   particularly for their value in providing vital global ecosystems services under the current global threats of climate change and rising social turmoil and weakening resilience in communities in Africa.

We take this opportunity to thank our listening Parliament and congratulate them for their courage to resist the forces of powerful industrial interests in the interest of ordinary small rural farmers and ordinary citizens of Ghana. We encourage them to continue to hold on with the passage of the bill and give more time for engaging with Ghanaians to contribute to designing a home brewed bill that meet our aspirations as a Ghanaians and Africans for that matter.

 

Bernard Guri 

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

CIKOD

CHAIRMAN  AFSA