The South African Civil Society Information Service
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
Saliem Fakir -
Book Review
Book: Starved for Science - How Biotechnology Is Being Kept Out of Africa
Author: Robert Paarlberg
Publisher: Harvard University Press
First Published: 2008
ISBN-10: 0674029739
David Edgerton, in his book, The Shock of the Old: Technology and global history since 1900 (2008), made a poignant observation: that often when used-based histories of technology are written, it is inevitable that in the name of progress, the new is always more advanced than the old and that...
Michelle Pressend -
Genetically modified (GMO) crops have more unknowns than knowns. Yet the South African government whole-heartily embraces this technology in the production of food crops, particularly maize, a staple food in South Africa.
The South African pro-GMO lobby is very proud of the fact that South Africa is the eighth biggest GMO producer in the world among the 13 largest biotechnology-producing countries. They also make claims that this technology is accepted worldwide, however many African...
Glenn Ashton -
We are more than a decade into the global experiment to utilise biotechnology to genetically engineer some of our major food crops, yet the facts around this supposed agricultural revolution remain as disputed as ever.
We were told there were two primary motivations to promote genetically modified (GM) crops. The first was that they would be able to increase agricultural productivity in order to feed a burgeoning global population on less land. The second was that we would be able to...
In this radio interview conducted by the Pinky Show, Jeffrey Smith of the Institute for Responsible Technology, contends that scientists give the false notion that genetic modification is just an extension of natural breathing and that it is safe. Genetic engineering causes unpredicted mutations in DNA causing collateral damage. it is a primitive science that is not precise and we are feeding the products of an infant and unpredictable science to millions of people. Do we really need to...
Glenn Ashton -
The Case to Include GM Labelling in the Consumer Protection Bill.
The Consumer Protection Bill, an act of Parliament devised to protect the rights of consumers, as its name suggests, has come before the National Council of Provinces, usually the final step before ratification. Interestingly the NCOP has asked for comment on the bill before it is ratified. One issue that has elicited much debate is the matter of foods derived from crops that have been genetically modified (GM).
Some of the...
