☠️🌽 The Four Horsemen of the Seed Apocalypse 🌽 ☠️
Bayer (who bought Monsanto), Syngenta (who owns ChemChina), Corteva Agriscience, and BASF are the four largest corporations paying governments for restrictive seed laws, intellectual property frameworks, and the promotion of certified seeds globally.
Here's how each has contributed:
1. Bayer (Monsanto)
Pioneer of genetically modified (GM) crops like Bt cotton and Roundup Ready seeds.
Aggressive enforcement of seed patents, suing farmers for saving patented seeds.
Bundling GM seeds with glyphosate-based herbicides like Roundup.
Influence in Kenya and Beyond:
Advocates for laws enforcing certified seed usage to expand GM seed markets.
Promotes seed dependency through corporate control of both seeds and herbicides.
2. Syngenta (ChemChina)
Developer of hybrid seeds and GM varieties, particularly pest-resistant crops.
Strong focus on chemical inputs, including pesticides that complement their seeds.
Global lobbying for intellectual property protections that restrict seed sharing.
Drives hybrid adoption in African agriculture, pushing for laws against informal seed systems.
Promotes commercial seed markets aligned with corporate profits.
3. Corteva Agriscience
Specializes in hybrid and genetically engineered seeds for major crops like maize and soybeans.
Promotes chemical-dependent farming practices linked to its herbicide-resistant seeds.
Heavy involvement in influencing agricultural policy globally, including Africa.
Advocates for UPOV-aligned seed laws, ensuring corporate control over seed systems.
Pushes hybrid maize as a replacement for traditional, biodiverse crops.
4. BASF
Major producer of chemical inputs like fungicides, herbicides, and insecticides.
Developer of seed treatments and hybrid seeds that require specific chemical applications.
Collaborates with governments and institutions to promote certified seed systems.
Pushes chemical-intensive farming methods that align with hybrid and GM seed use.
These corporations collectively:
1. Lobby for restrictive seed laws: Using platforms like UPOV and trade agreements to enforce patents. They pay politicians to enact last for them!
2. Promote certified seeds: Undermining indigenous and informal seed systems.
3. Push monoculture farming: To maximize the use of their proprietary seeds and agrochemicals.
They claim protection and safety, yet their legacy is biodiversity loss, farmer debt, environmental harm, and degraded nutrition and health. It's exploitation, not protection. 🌾
And it's as old as colonialism: exploiting resources, erasing traditions, and profiting from control. 🌾
(A letter to their owners: https://lnkd.in/dx6sZVzk )
(A simple petition: https://lnkd.in/dcAnsktr )
