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August 05, 2008

News from Burkina Faso

* GM Crops
* Cotton (again...)
* Sudan
* My Mum!

GM Crops:
Burkina Faso recently became the first West African country to agree to test genetically modified crops. The country has signed a commercial agreement with Monsanto to import Bt cottonseed. Researchers claim that the seed needs less pesticide, which would cut costs and raise yield for local farmers. Controversy about GM continues however, relating to safety and environmental impact as well as intellectual property rights.

Cotton and WTO (continued....)
Burkina Faso will suffer again as a result of the continuing trade injustice following the failed WTO talks in Geneva. "We can hardly control our anger," said Burkina Faso's trade minister Mamadou Sanou on hearing that the WTO talks had collapsed. "They wanted me to be here to negotiate on cotton. I have been here for 10 days and I haven't been able to discuss cotton," he told a news conference. "There is a risk that the whole system will collapse in our country." Europe and the US made cosmetic changes with no real impact. Meanwhile, global cotton prices hit a new low of just under 46 cents per pound in May 2007 as US farmers flooded export markets with cotton produced with the help of US farm aid.

Sudan:
Sudan has asked Burkina Faso block any move by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to have President Omar al-Bashir arrested for genocide. South Africa and Libya support a 12 month suspension of the arrest, in order to "give peace a chance". Burkina Faso, whose foreign minister is the AU-UN mediator for Darfur, may support the AU position, although BF has previously broken from the AU line by supporting sanctions against Zimbabwe. Up to 300,000 people have died and more than 2.2 million have fled their homes since ethnic minority rebels in Darfur rose up against the Arab-dominated regime in Khartoum in Feb 2003.

And Finally...
My mum and her minister make the local press and the internet, as they help us raise funds for the Primary School in Gorom-Gorom, which we are building over the coming year.

Posted by Keith at August 5, 2008 12:08 PM