3/20: Biopiracy and Seed Sovereignty: AGRA Watch Educational

GBIACK 2.11.2010 075THURS, March 20, 6:30 – 9pm
Location: Rochdale Room, Central Co-op Admin Office Building, 1900 E Madison Street
(3 blocks East of Co-op store)
All are welcome!  Event is free, and refreshments will be provided thanks to Central Co-op! RSVP’s appreciated but not required to [email protected].

International law is facilitating the appropriation of Africa’s genetic wealth, and the Gates Foundation is helping to pave the way.  African farmers who are resisting the “new green revolution” call for Seed Sovereignty – their right to save, use, exchange, and sell their own seeds.

AGRA Watch is pleased to have one of its members, activist scholar Carol Thompson of Northern Arizona University, in town to lead a discussion on this topic. Carol has partnered with a Southern African farmers’ organization for decades; recently they revealed how these international policies may be more threatening to smallholder farmers than even climate change. She is co-author with Andrew Mushita of Biopiracy of Biodiversity – Global Exchange as Enclosure.

AGRA Watch is a project of Community Alliance for Global Justice, based in Seattle, that challenges the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s questionable agricultural programs in Africa, including its Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). We work with grassroots African organizations to support African farmers defining their own food and agriculture systems, building a network rooted in agroecological and indigenous farming practices, social and gender equity, and food sovereignty.

If you’re interested in getting involved in AGRA Watch, come to this educational event!  We will learn about core issues to our campaign, and share how you can get involved in helping to organize a strategic planning meeting with several of our African partners this Fall.

For more information, contact AGRA Watch ([email protected]), or call 206.405.4600.
Please share widely, and invite your friends on Facebook!
Check out AGRA Watch Blog!

Posted in Agra Watch Blog Posts, Agra Watch News, News.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *