Seed Sovereignty and Suicide
In the New York Times today, there’s a chilling story about the mounting number of suicides among farmers in India.
The article goes on to describe the financial crises that Indian farmers face and how they can be linked to government assistance being outpaced by increasing global competition and by the pressure on these farmers to use the GM seeds foisted upon them by [yes, predominantly American] multinational corporations. The farmers find themselves getting deeper and deeper into debt, which is further exacerbated by the exorbitant interest they are charged by moneylenders.
What’s the situation like in your country?
We’ll be discussing GMOs, seed sovereignty and financial assistance (like rural credit) for food communities in several Earth Workshops at Terra Madre.
TM Blog Administrator, 11:01:AM | Earth Workshop, Food Community, India | Comment (1)
This is a very serious issue and must be deeply discussed.
Margarida, 09:48 PM - 21 September 06