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Rückschlag für Monsanto in Westafrika

September 2016: Seit vielen Jahren versucht der US-amerikanische Agrarkonzern Monsanto, dessen geplante Übernahme durch den Chemiekonzern Bayer gerade Schlagzeilen macht, seine Geschäfte in Afrika auszuweiten (Siehe zum Beispiel 'Unternehmen Süßkartoffel'). Doch von den lediglich vier Ländern, die bislang einen kommerziellen Einsatz von gentechnisch verändertem Saatgut erlaubt haben, steigt das westafrikanische Burkina Faso jetzt aus dem Anbau von Gen-Baumwolle (Bt Baumwolle) aus - ein Rückschlag möglicherweise auch für die Aussichten des geplanten Firmenzusammenschlusses. Der Nachrichtendienst TWN biosafety schreibt dazu:

"In 2003, Burkina Faso, in partnership with Monsanto, began the development of genetically engineered (GE) Bt cotton. By 2014, more than 140,000 smallholder farmers were cultivating Bt cotton, representing 70% of total cotton production in the country. In 2016, however, Burkinabè cotton officials claimed that the Bt cotton varietals produced lint of inferior quality resulting in tens of millions of dollars in lost revenue as the Bt cotton lint fetched lower prices on the global market. The Burkinabè cotton sector has since cut down drastically on Bt cotton sowings with a complete phase out planned for the next season."

"An article by two academics, Brian Dowd-Uribe and Matthew A. Schnurr, looks into the reasons for and implications of the failure. A key reason centres around lint quality. High lint quality is Burkina Faso’s competitive advantage on the global cotton market. Unfortunately the quality characteristics of the original Burkinabè varietals were not retained when crossed with the Bt gene.  The subsequent losses were borne entirely by the cotton companies rather than the farmers.  The farmers, however, have had no choice but to stop Bt cotton cultivation because the cotton companies which control the cottonseed market stopped providing the seeds to them."

"The Burkina Faso reversal may discourage other high quality and large cotton producing African nations like Mali from adopting GE cotton. On the other hand, Nigeria’s recent approval of Bt cotton signals a willingness to go ahead with such technology regardless of the risks."

Quelle:Third World Network Biosafety Information Service vom 14. September 2016