Florence Wambugu - Revision history

Claire Robinson: /* Africa Harvest */

2009-09-14T19:46:45Z

Africa Harvest

Claire Robinson: /* GM sweet potato is brainchild of three American men */

2009-09-13T14:16:05Z

GM sweet potato is brainchild of three American men

Claire Robinson: /* GM sweet potato is brainchild of three American men */

2009-09-13T14:11:35Z

GM sweet potato is brainchild of three American men

Claire Robinson: /* GM sweet potato is brainchild of three American men */

2009-09-13T14:08:30Z

GM sweet potato is brainchild of three American men

Claire Robinson: /* Africa Harvest */

2009-09-13T14:08:12Z

Africa Harvest

Claire Robinson: /* Figures don't add up */

2009-09-13T14:07:40Z

Figures don't add up

Claire Robinson: /* Figures don't add up */

2009-09-13T14:06:24Z

Figures don't add up

Claire Robinson: /* Figures don't add up */

2009-09-13T14:05:52Z

Figures don't add up

Claire Robinson: /* Figures don't add up */

2009-09-13T14:05:13Z

Figures don't add up

Claire Robinson: /* Spin doctor's dream */

2009-09-13T14:00:53Z

Spin doctor's dream

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 ==Africa Harvest==
-In January, 2002, Wambugu established her own biotechnology foundation, becoming Chief Executive of [[Africa Harvest Biotechnology Foundation International]] (AHFBI), usually called Africa Harvest for short. AHBFI's [http://www.ahbfi.org/programs.htm Communication Program] is supported by [[CropLife International]] - an organisation led by companies such as [[BASF]], [[Bayer]], [[Dow Chemical|Dow]], [[DuPont]], [[Monsanto]], and [[Syngenta]].
+In January, 2002, Wambugu established her own biotechnology foundation, becoming Chief Executive of [[Africa Harvest Biotechnology Foundation International]] (AHFBI), usually called Africa Harvest for short. AHBFI's Communication for Development Program is supported by [[CropLife International]] - an organisation led by companies such as [[BASF]], [[Bayer]], [[Dow Chemical|Dow]], [[DuPont]], [[Monsanto]], and [[Syngenta]].
-The main focus of the [http://www.ahbfi.org/programs.htm Communication Program] is
+Africa Harvest's website stated about the Communication for Development Program:
-:to increase awareness about the benefits of biotechnology and to generate and disseminate knowledge that empowers stakeholders - including farmers, policy makers, and the public - to make informed decisions about agricultural biotechnology for sustainable development.
+: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.<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20070410081155/http://www.ahbfi.org/programs.htm Communication for Development Program], Africa Harvest website, version placed in web archive 10 Apr 2007, accessed in web archive 14 Sept 2009</ref>
 According to Aaron deGrassi of the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex:

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 But the GM sweet potato project was not Wambugu's brainchild. It was that of three American men: [[Robert Horsch]] and another colleague at Monsanto in consort with [[Joel Cohen]] from [[USAID]]. It was the three Americans who recruited Wambugu, who had just completed her doctoral thesis, for their project using [[USAID]] money to pay for a three-year post-doctoral position (1991-1994) for her with Monsanto.
-Robert Horsch has [http://www.detnews.com/2003/technology/0306/28/technology-204631.htm said] his role at Monsanto is to 'create goodwill and help open future markets'.<ref>[http://www.bic.searca.org/news/2003/jul/usa/13.html Genetically modified seeds held by a few], Taipei Times, 13 July 2003, accessed 13 Sept 2009</ref> Wambugu reinforces the point: 'it [the GM sweet potato] has no commercial value to Monsanto, except as PR.' Over the years Wambugu has more than repaid Monsanto's PR investment, working hard to publicize the project and securing a career as an influential advocate for GM crops in the process.
+Robert Horsch has said his role at Monsanto is to "create goodwill and help open future markets".<ref>[http://www.bic.searca.org/news/2003/jul/usa/13.html Genetically modified seeds held by a few], Taipei Times, 13 July 2003, accessed 13 Sept 2009</ref> Wambugu reinforces the point: "it [the GM sweet potato] has no commercial value to Monsanto, except as PR."<ref>Fred Pearce and Florence Wambugu, [http://www.newscientist.com/opinion/opinion_224024.html Feeding Africa], New Scientist, 27 May 2000 (sub req’d to see full article)</ref> Over the years Wambugu has more than repaid Monsanto's PR investment, working hard to publicize the project and securing a career as an influential advocate for GM crops in the process.
 To grasp the extraordinary character and scale of the media coverage Wambugu has generated in her role as biotech advocate, it is useful to do a Google search on "Wambugu 'sweet potato'". It throws up hundreds of articles, mostly in the Western press.

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 But the GM sweet potato project was not Wambugu's brainchild. It was that of three American men: [[Robert Horsch]] and another colleague at Monsanto in consort with [[Joel Cohen]] from [[USAID]]. It was the three Americans who recruited Wambugu, who had just completed her doctoral thesis, for their project using [[USAID]] money to pay for a three-year post-doctoral position (1991-1994) for her with Monsanto.
-Robert Horsch has [http://www.detnews.com/2003/technology/0306/28/technology-204631.htm said] his role at Monsanto is to 'create goodwill and help open future markets'. Wambugu reinforces the point: 'it [the GM sweet potato] has no commercial value to Monsanto, except as PR.' Over the years Wambugu has more than repaid Monsanto's PR investment, working hard to publicize the project and securing a career as an influential advocate for GM crops in the process.
+Robert Horsch has [http://www.detnews.com/2003/technology/0306/28/technology-204631.htm said] his role at Monsanto is to 'create goodwill and help open future markets'.<ref>[http://www.bic.searca.org/news/2003/jul/usa/13.html Genetically modified seeds held by a few], Taipei Times, 13 July 2003, accessed 13 Sept 2009</ref> Wambugu reinforces the point: 'it [the GM sweet potato] has no commercial value to Monsanto, except as PR.' Over the years Wambugu has more than repaid Monsanto's PR investment, working hard to publicize the project and securing a career as an influential advocate for GM crops in the process.
 To grasp the extraordinary character and scale of the media coverage Wambugu has generated in her role as biotech advocate, it is useful to do a Google search on "Wambugu 'sweet potato'". It throws up hundreds of articles, mostly in the Western press.

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 ==GM sweet potato is brainchild of three American men==
-But the GM sweet potato project was not Wambugu's brainchild. It was that of three American men: [[Robert Horsch]] and another colleague at Monsanto in consort with [[Joel Cohen]] from [[USAID]]. It was the three Americans who recruited Wambugu, who had just completed her doctoral thesis, for their project using [[USAID]] money to pay for a three-year post-doctoral position(1991-1994) for her with Monsanto.
+But the GM sweet potato project was not Wambugu's brainchild. It was that of three American men: [[Robert Horsch]] and another colleague at Monsanto in consort with [[Joel Cohen]] from [[USAID]]. It was the three Americans who recruited Wambugu, who had just completed her doctoral thesis, for their project using [[USAID]] money to pay for a three-year post-doctoral position (1991-1994) for her with Monsanto.
 Robert Horsch has [http://www.detnews.com/2003/technology/0306/28/technology-204631.htm said] his role at Monsanto is to 'create goodwill and help open future markets'. Wambugu reinforces the point: 'it [the GM sweet potato] has no commercial value to Monsanto, except as PR.' Over the years Wambugu has more than repaid Monsanto's PR investment, working hard to publicize the project and securing a career as an influential advocate for GM crops in the process.

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 ==Africa Harvest==
-In January, 2002, Wambugu established her own biotechnology foundation, becoming Chief Executive of [[Africa Harvest Biotechnology Foundation International]] (AHFBI), usually called Africa Harvest for short. AHBFI's [http://www.ahbfi.org/programs.htm Communication Program] is supported by [[CropLife International]] - an organisation led by companies such as [[BASF]], [[Bayer]], [[Dow]], [[DuPont]], [[Monsanto]], and [[Syngenta]].
+In January, 2002, Wambugu established her own biotechnology foundation, becoming Chief Executive of [[Africa Harvest Biotechnology Foundation International]] (AHFBI), usually called Africa Harvest for short. AHBFI's [http://www.ahbfi.org/programs.htm Communication Program] is supported by [[CropLife International]] - an organisation led by companies such as [[BASF]], [[Bayer]], [[Dow Chemical|Dow]], [[DuPont]], [[Monsanto]], and [[Syngenta]].
 The main focus of the [http://www.ahbfi.org/programs.htm Communication Program] is

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 Yet the trials, with all of their unknowns, were presented by Wambugu as an agricultural revolution in Africa. To quote the Forbes article about Wambugu reinventing the future, "While the West debates the ethics of GM food, Florence Wambugu is using it to feed her country."<ref>Lynn J. Cook, [http://www.forbes.com/free_forbes/2002/1223/302.html Millions Served: Florence Wambugu feeds her country with food others have the luxury to avoid], Forbes magazine, December 23, 2002, accessed 12 Sept 2009</ref> The implication was that this trial technology was already benefiting the people of Kenya.
-The article reported that the results were "astonishing": "The sweet potato is sub-Saharan Africa's first genetically modified crop, and its yields so far are double that of the regular plant. Potatoes are bigger and richer in color , indicating they've retained more nutritional value." For hungry Africa, we were told, "Wambugu's modified sweet potato offers tangible hope."<ref>Lynn J. Cook, [http://www.forbes.com/free_forbes/2002/1223/302.html Millions Served: Florence Wambugu feeds her country with food others have the luxury to avoid], Forbes magazine, December 23, 2002, accessed 12 Sept 2009</ref>
+The article reported that the results were "astonishing":
 ==Failure of GM sweet potato announced==

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 In other words, Wambugu's figures on average non-GM yields appear to massively understate the reality by anywhere between 40-60%. By contrast, if, as Wambugu claimed, her GM sweet potato were producing 10 tonnes per hectare, then rather than roughly doubling normal yields, the GM sweet potato would be performing no better than the conventional crop.
-This is where we come to the nub of the problem. Despite the hundreds of items referring to the success of Wambugu's project, until early 2004 there was no way of knowing the actual yields of the GM sweet potato. No peer reviewed reports or official figures were published during the three years of the trials in Kenya. Thus, despite all the claims of Wambugu and others, such as [[CS Prakash]] , about the enormous success of the project during that period, deGrassi noted in his 2003 report, 'At the farm level, there is currently no evidence about the performance of transgenic sweet potatoes.' The researchers, deGrassi wrote, simply 'refused to state how the trials, now in their third year, have performed.'
+This is where we come to the nub of the problem. Despite the hundreds of items referring to the success of Wambugu's project, until early 2004 there was no way of knowing the actual yields of the GM sweet potato. No peer reviewed reports or official figures were published during the three years of the trials in Kenya. Thus, despite all the claims of Wambugu and others, such as [[CS Prakash]], about the enormous success of the project during that period, deGrassi noted in his 2003 report, 'At the farm level, there is currently no evidence about the performance of transgenic sweet potatoes.' The researchers, deGrassi wrote, simply 'refused to state how the trials, now in their third year, have performed.'
 Yet the trials, with all of their unknowns, were presented by Wambugu as an agricultural revolution in Africa. To quote the Forbes article about Wambugu reinventing the future, "While the West debates the ethics of GM food, Florence Wambugu is using it to feed her country."<ref>Lynn J. Cook, [http://www.forbes.com/free_forbes/2002/1223/302.html Millions Served: Florence Wambugu feeds her country with food others have the luxury to avoid], Forbes magazine, December 23, 2002, accessed 12 Sept 2009</ref> The implication was that this trial technology was already benefiting the people of Kenya.

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 Whatever the correct point of comparison, Wambugu's GM crop appears a run-away success. The only problem is, none of Wambugu's figures add up.
-In 2003 Aaron deGrassi of the Institute of Development Studies examined all the available data for a detailed report on [http://www.twnafrica.org/docs/GMCropsAfrica.pdf GM crops in Africa]. He noted:
+In 2003 Aaron deGrassi of the Institute of Development Studies examined all the available data for a detailed report on GM crops in Africa, entitled, "Genetically Modified Crops and Sustainable Poverty Alleviation: An Assessment of Current Evidence". He noted:
 :Accounts of the transgenic sweet potato have used low figures on average yields in Kenya to paint a picture of stagnation. An early article stated 6 tons per hectare - without mentioning the data source - which was then reproduced in subsequent analyses. However, FAO statistics indicate 9.7 tons, and official statistics report 10.4.<ref>Aaron deGrassi, [http://allafrica.com/sustainable/resources/view/00010161.pdf Genetically Modified Crops and Sustainable Poverty Alleviation: An Assessment of Current Evidence], Third World Network - Africa, June 2003, p. 15</ref>

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 :Dr. Wambugu, who continues to act as an advisor on the project, said the modified sweet potato seeds should be able to produce 10 tonnes of vegetables per hectare compared with a natural Kenyan crop that yields four tonnes per hectare.<ref>Chris Lackner, [http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2277:gm-crops-touted-to-fight-poverty GM crops touted to fight poverty], National Post, 28 June 2003, accessed 12 Sept 2009</ref>
-However, back in 1999 in an article in Nature, Wambugu wrote, 'the production of sweet potato [in Kenya], a staple crop, is 6 tonnes per hectare', (Why Africa Needs Agricultural Biotech, Nature 400, July 1, 1999)
+However, back in 1999 in an article in Nature, Wambugu wrote, 'the production of sweet potato [in Kenya], a staple crop, is 6 tonnes per hectare'.<ref>Florence Wambugu, [http://www.agbioworld.org/biotech-info/topics/dev-world/africa.html Why Africa Needs Agricultural Biotech], Nature 400, July 1, 1999</ref>
 ==Figures don't add up==