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Published in Winter 2004
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Mexican farmers seek action from governments
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By Lilia Pérez Santiago
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To Mexican peasants, maize
means life. In Oaxaca, the center of origin for maize, the peasant diet is
based on maize, beans and other products grown in the same field. Here, a broad
variety of maize breeds are jealously guarded as the legacy of ancestors.
In fact, Oaxaca’s peasants
are the first line of defense for genetic maize diversity. The state’s 16
indigenous groups produce a genetic wealth of at least 18 varieties of maize, a
significant number considering that 50 different varieties have been identified
nationwide.
But in 2001, when the Union
of Zapotec-Chinantec communities (Unión Zapoteca-Chinanteca—Uzachi) and researcher Ignacio
Chapela found transgenic maize amongst the traditional land races in Oaxaca,
the news alarmed us all.
Although
government institutions initially sought to deny the situation, thereby
avoiding any responsibility, subsequent test samples obtained by the National
Institute of Ecology (Instituto Nacional de Ecología—INE) and
the National Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity (Comisión
Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad—Conabio)
confirmed UZACHI and Chapela’s results. INE agreed to follow through on the
monitoring effort and offered some recommendations, such as not planting any
maize coming from supply stores.
Farming communities,
however, demanded that real measures be taken to stop the spread of transgenes.
They want to know what problems may arise from the consumption of transgenic
maize by humans and animals. And above all, they want to know how to preserve
their traditional corn and safeguard the environment.
Thus, at
the end of 2001, the communities collaborated with nongovernmental
organizations such as Rural Studies and Consulting (Estudios
Rurales y Asesoría—ERA), Greenpeace, Environmental Studies Group (Grupo
de Estudios Ambientales—GEA) and the Mexican Center for Environmental
Law (Centro Mexicano de Derecho Ambiental—CEMDA) to
petition the CEC to oversee a more detailed investigation into the
environmental and social effects of the presence of transgenic corn in Mexico.
The communities are
currently awaiting the results of the study, so that the recommendations generated
may be adopted by the responsible federal and state government agencies. The
communities expect the results of the study to be applied swiftly.
But
consenting to study the problem is not enough. Oaxaca’s peasant communities are
tired of being marginalized, and not being involved in matters that affect
their own development. Besides, farmers in Oaxaca’s Sierra Juárez mountains
have been receiving scientists and journalists since the discovery was first
made, without seeing the results of the research or the media reports.
When a study did eventually
become available, the communities sought support from federal and state
authorities for a transgenic maize program. In response, the Agriculture,
Forestry and Mining Commission of the Oaxaca state legislature held a forum
with the heads of various federal and state institutions to discuss the issue.
The event led to several proposals and commitments from its participants, such
as the creation of a State Biosafety Commission (Comisión Estatal de
Bioseguridad),
the development of programs to promote the planting of traditional corn, and
public awareness and communication programs on the problem. However, none of
the agreements or commitments raised at the forum has had any follow-up.
Oaxacan peasants are therefore also tired of promises and inaction.
Oaxaca’s peasants will be
anticipating a report based on local consultations that can then be
communicated to all of our men, women and indigenous peoples in a language they
understand.
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