If you had any doubts about where the Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation is really placing its bets, AGRA Watch’s recent announcement
of the Foundation’s investment of $23.1 million in 500,000 shares of Monsanto stock should put them to rest. Genetic engineering: full speed ahead.

If you are one of those people who believes the axiom that Monsanto
is the farmer’s friend (and the corollary, that its climate-ready,
bio-fortified GMOs can save the world from hunger) you will not be
surprised, disappointed, or find any conflict of interest in this
investment.

But if you are part of the growing population who gets their information about GMOs from scientists who are not beholden to corporate funding, has a problem with anti-trust issues, or is getting queasy about the increasing monopoly power of philanthropy capital… it’s time to say the Emperor has no clothes.

Under the guise of “sustainability” the Foundation has been
spearheading a multi-billion dollar effort to transform African into a
GMO-friendly continent. The public relations flagship for this effort is
the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA),
a massive Green Revolution project. Up to now AGRA spokespeople have
been slippery, and frankly, contradictory about their stance on GMOs.

The first Director of AGRA was Gary Toenniessen, a career program
officer for Rockefeller Foundation. He said AGRA was not ruling out GMOs
and if and when they were introduced it would be with all the
appropriate “safeguards.” After AGRA was criticized for not having any
Africans, Kofi Anan was named Chairman in 2007. He first said GMOs were
out of the picture, the next day he recapitulated. Last Spring, Joe
DeVries, who runs the AGRA seed program was asked by a Worldwatch
blogger if they were engaging in genetic engineering. “Read our lips,”
said Joe DeVries. “We are not promoting or funding research for GMOs
(genetically modified organisms)…” In fact, in Kenya alone AGRA has
used funds from the Gates Foundation to write grants for research in
genetically modified agriculture. Nearly 80% of Gates’ funding in Kenya
involves biotech and there have been over $100 million in grants to
organizations connected to Monsanto. In 2008, some 30% of the
Foundation’s agricultural development funds went to promoting or
developing genetically modified seeds (See Ending Africa’s Hunger)..

More to the point is that–as Monsanto and Gates are fully aware–to
establish a healthy GMO industry one first needs a strong conventional
breeding program in place: labs, experiment stations, agronomists,
extensionists, molecular biologists… and farmer’s seeds. All of which
Gates, Rockefeller, Monsanto and AGRA are actively lining up.