Africa Harvest Biotechnology Foundation International

See Florence Wambugu

In January, 2002, the Monsanto-trained scientist Florence Wambugu established her own biotechnology foundation, becoming Chief Executive of Africa Harvest Biotechnology Foundation International (AHFBI), usually called Africa Harvest for short.

AHBFI's Biotechnology Outreach Strategy, according to its 2007 Annual Report, aims to "provide leadership in the public debate surrounding biotechnology". In 2007, says its report, AHBFI deliberately shifted to third-party techniques to push GMOs:

The biotech outreach thrust shifted from workshops with the media, scientists and the general public to developing more innovative media platforms targeted to key decision-makers. From a highly-visible strategy, Africa Harvest shifted to “enabling” the most credible individuals and organizations to speak for the technology; this meant forging stronger relationships with national agricultural research institutes (NARIs), relevant government ministries and universities.

AHBFI's Biotechnology Outreach Strategy is supported by CropLife International - an organisation led by companies such as BASF, Bayer, Dow, DuPont, Monsanto, and Syngenta. Other supporters of the Strategy are the Africa Biofortified Sorghum (ABS) Project and USAID.

Africa Harvest's website in 2007 stated about the organization's Communication for Development Program:

Africa’s underdevelopment is linked to lack of knowledge. In the agricultural sector, communication is an integral part of the Africa Harvest programs and projects design; in particular, biotech and risk communication are designed to facilitate the adoption of new crops and products, especially GM products. Africa Harvest Communication for Development Program includes an effective biotech communication and public acceptance program designed to empower people from those within national governments down to the local level to make informed decisions regarding the implementation of biotechnology crops, bio-safety policy development, and bio-safety protection.

According to Aaron deGrassi of the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex:

Pro-biotech Western aid agencies have joined with these [front] organizations to quietly conduct one-sided conferences at up-scale venues around the continent, such as Kenya's Windsor Golf and Country Club, aimed to swing high-level officials in favor of GM. But critics charge these forums are facades for large corporations.

They also charge that these NGOs are far from being as representative as they suggest, merely consisting of a website and a few staff.

Partners

Development partners listed in the Africa Harvest Annual Technical and Financial Report 2007 are:

• Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
• CropLife International
• DuPont USA
• The Rockefeller Foundation (RF)
• United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

Collaborating partners listed in the Africa Harvest Annual Technical and Financial Report 2007 are:

• AfricaBio
• African Biotechnology Stakeholders Forum (ABSF)
• Agricultural Research Council (ARC), SA
• Council for Science and Industrial Research (CSIR), SA
• African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF)
• Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA)
• International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT)
• International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA)
• Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI)
• Kenya Banana Growers Association
• National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA), Nigeria
• New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD)
• DuPont, through its business Pioneer Hi-Bred
• TechnoServe Incorporation (TNS)
• University of California, Berkeley
• University of Pretoria

How industry writes legislation on GM

In Kenya, in 2007, according to Africa Harvest's Annual Technical & Finance Report 2007,

the Croplife/Africa Harvest Program successfully managed to get the biosafety policy and legislation process restarted. The Biosafety Bill went as far as the third reading in Kenya's Parliament, but being an election year, Parliament was closed before voting for the Bill could be concluded. Among the successes was the increased and improved debate on the specific subject of policy and legislation as well as increased diversity of biotech voices in Kenya.

In addition, the Croplife/Africa Harvest Program

was also successful in improving collaboration among biotech organizations in Kenya as well as expansion of our stakeholder relations to include churches, universities, farmers and farmer-organizations. A newspaper focusing on the GM legislation was also finalized and distributed to key target audiences. A robust media outreach strategy saw the development of Kenya-specific biotech information, finalization of Kenya media databases and continued one-to-one contact with the media.

Funding

In the period from January 2007 to December 2007, Africa Harvest’s total revenue was US $3.1412 million. Most donations were received from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, CropLife, DuPont, USAID/KARI and individual donors.

Notes

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