A GLOBAL APPEAL TO HELP DISTRIBUTE
40 MILLION TONNES OF SURPLUS FOOD IN INDIA
TO 360 MILLION HUNGRY INDIANS

I am rather amused to read that hundreds of people signed an AgBioWorld Foundation petition appealing to Aventis CropScience to donate 5 million pounds of genetically-engineered experimental rice to the needy rather than destroy it. And at the same time, I am glad to know that the appeal did not motivate the FDA and the USDA to listen to the mischievous proposal in the name of "humanitarian intentions".

Aventis has expressed concern about the hungry in the world, stating that it is "working hard to ensure that US farmers can grow abundant, nutritious crops and we hope that by contributing to that abundance all mankind will prosper". And AgBioWorld Foundation, at the same time conveys its "disapproval of those who, in the past, have used situations similar to this one to block APPROVED food aid to victims of cyclones, floods and other disasters in order to further their own political (namely, anti-biotechnology) agendas."

I do not have to go into the reasons why AgBioWorld Foundation feels agitated over the actions of those "who block APPROVED food aid to victims of cyclones, floods and other disasters." The world knows that there is a strong lobby of scientists who are blind to the real cause behind the growing hunger. Their only interest is to ensure that some private companies can make increasing profits in the name of hunger and starvation. Their only interest is to ensure that the corporatisation of agriculture, ably assisted by an unsound science of biotechnology, helps in further marginalising millions of farmers in the developing countries.

Aventis, Syngenta, Monsanto, and Cargill's are to be world's food-giver. And everyone in the majority world must queue up before them with a begging bowl. Isn't this similar to what Shylock used to do in William Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice? Remember, Shylock looking always for an opportunity to extract his "pound of flesh?" Well, if the AgBioWorld Foundation and Aventis are IN REALITY keen to eradicate hunger, please join the efforts that we intend to make in India to make available food to those who cannot afford it.

It is my appeal, on behalf of the New Delhi-based Ecological Foundation, to all those who feel moved by the pictures of malnourished people on the television screens, to all those who feel agitated over the growing disaparities leading to hunger and dispair, to come forward, be a partcipant, and contribute for the cause of hunger and malnutrition. Together we can make a difference. If your heart bleeds at the millions who die of starvation and hunger, here is an opportunity to do your little bit.

And I am not talking of five million pounds (or about two and half million kilos) for the sake of public relations and propaganda. I am talking of 40 MILLION TONNES of foodgrains that is lying surplus in India ! More than 40 MILLION TONNES of foodgrains (in addition to the requirement of about 20 million tonnes for the food buffer) are stock piled in the open.

And as if this is not enough, the government has allowed the sale of foodgrains at a throwaway price to traders and merchants for export when people in the country are waiting endlessly for two square meals a day ! The IMF, World Bank and World Trade Organisation, which lead the modern-day Shylocks, have instead asked the Indian government to redefine the 'beneficiaries" of the publicly-funded distribution system. As a result, the government has excluded millions of people, earning more than Indian Rs 1,500 (US $ 40) a month, from purchasing subsidised foodgrains. The situation is such that in Dharavi, Asia's largest slum in the heart of Mumbai, only 150 families have been classified as living below the poverty line !

With the Indian government refusing to provide food to the needy and helpless, and with the IMF, World Bank and the WTO asserting that the hungry be left at the mercy of the market forces, there is no hope for these millions. These are not the children of a lesser god. They too are made of the same blood and flesh as you and me. They too need food to eat, to survive and to live in this wonderful planet.

They DO NOT need your sympathies. They DO NOT need genetically modified food that you and me are not willing to accept as part of our daily diet. They need the normal food which is being eaten away by rats and insect pests. They need the foodgrains that is being damaged by rain and moisture. They need the food that has been essentially grown by them but which they cannot afford to buy.

Let us together make that abundant and rotting food available to these hapless millions. They need your support and not your publicity stints. They don't need your signatures for an appeal to the Indian government. They need you to come forward and make that dream possible.

Here is an humanitarian opportunity for the AgBioWorld Foundations' and the Aventis Crop Sciences' of the world to demonstrate their REAL concern for the poor and hungry. Every contribution that you make to the Ecological Foundation will be used for MAKING FOOD AVAILABLE to the hungry.

And believe me, the food that lies openly stacked in India is not genetically manipulated. It is fit for human consumption.

In the name of the poor and hungry,

Devinder Sharma
The Ecological Foundation

Contributions may be sent to the address below, in the name of "The Ecological Foundation."

The Ecological Foundation,
7 Triveni Apartments,
A-6 Paschim Vihar,
New Delhi-110 063

Tel: 91-11-525 0494
Email: dsharma@ndf.vsnl.net.in

Devinder Sharma is a distinguished journalist, a former Development Editor of the Indian Express and now a columnist on food and nutritional security, conservation of biodiversity, intellectual property rights, international trade, poverty and economic disparities. On July 16, 2001, was awarded the first Chaudhary Charan Singh Award for Excellence in Journalism, for the year 2000, instituted by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi.

He is a prolific writer, has over 4,000 articles to his credit and his writings are published by various national and international newspapers, magazines, journals and electronic news portals. Among his recent works include two books: GATT to WTO: Seeds of Despair and In the Famine Trap. He has been in the vanguard of those questioning the value of GMOs for meeting the needs of hungry. He has helped lead the charge against the hasty commercialisation of GMOs in India, via a campaign for a five-year freeze and, most recently, through resisting the plan for the immediate commercialisation of GM cotton.

He may be contacted at: 7 Triveni Apartments, A-6 Paschim Vihar, New Delhi-110 063, India
Tel: 011-525 0494; Mobile: 98 1130 1857
E-mail: dsharma@ndf.vsnl.net.in