Plant clinics in developing countries

[spiralsheep]

Call me cynical, but "non-profit" orgs can still be funded by global biotech companies, even if they're not directly a front for them. Also, the implication that all dangerous new pests and diseases originate in and/or spread from developing countries, and so those countries need monitoring, is unfortunate at best.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13389320

'A "plant clinic" scheme to improve food security in developing nations has received a £6.8m boost from the UK and Swiss governments. The clinics, similar to human doctors' surgeries, offer local farmers advice on how to treat pests and diseases. Organisers hope to collate data from front-line "plant doctors" in order to provide an early warning system. It is hoped that more than 400 clinics will be established in 40 countries over the next five years. Trevor Nicholls, CEO of Cabi (Centre for Agriculture Bioscience International) - a not-for-profit science body - said the investment of £1m from the UK government and £5.8m from Swiss ministers was a "significant endorsement for the initiative".'

Remind me which countries big pharma and global biotech companies are usually based in again? No, wait... now I remember.

Comments

[buria_q]

good catch. very paternalistic, as though people whose families may have been farming for generations don't know how to deal with their environment.

[spiralsheep]

The combination of imported/genetically engineered crops, more extreme climate variations than usual, and the resulting increased necessities for shedloads of chemicals (and more water) is rendering older knowledge less relevant BUT the optimum solution to that isn't to import more outside tech ... which then requires more outside knowledge... which then requires more money... which requires more profitable (in global capitalist terms) farming... which requires more outside tech... which requires more outside knowledge... and local people get ground down by circular temporary solutions to patch over long term problems, some of which were avoidable in the first place, while the biochem industry profits at the expense of developing world farmers (and developed world consumers).

Anyway, I'm sure you know all this so.... /end rant