Kampala — AS the Nigerians say, "Get your juju out of here". And so, Canadians made it resoundingly clear to biotech giant Monsanto that they did not want genetically modified wheat on their soil.

The St Louis, Mo.-based company had for seven years quietly poured millions of dollars into developing GMO wheat that would require Canadian farmers to buy licensed seeds as well as the herbicide known as Round-up from Monsanto. Had the plan been successful, Monsanto would have effectively controlled the production of the largest source of world wheat supply. Canadian wheat and barley account for 20% of the world market and ring in $6b worth in sales per year. But, a week ago on Monday, the pioneer of genetically modified crops bowed to extreme pressure from environmentalists, consumers and farmers who had lobbied hard against the introduction of GM wheat in Canada, and shut down the operation. A Monsanto vice-president lamely cited the shrinking wheat market as the reason for the company's momentous decision. Monsanto, he argued, is merely postponing the decision to sell GM wheat for four to eight years before returning to the plan.

Regardless, many saw it as a defeat to Monsanto, which already markets Round-up Ready crops such as canola, corn and Soya beans. These genetically altered crops can withstand the herbicide Round up marketed exclusively by the company. However, many buyers of premium Canadian wheat, including Japan and UK, had stated categorically that they would stop buying from Canada as soon as GM wheat was introduced in farms. "For once we saw how consumer rejection can have an impact", an elated Nadege Adam, a spokesperson for the Council of Canadians, an Ottawa-based consumer advocacy organisation, said to the Globe and Mail.

While Monsanto claims that this is merely a pause until consumers are more receptive to GM products, it's clear that GM crops remain contentious among consumers in developed countries where environmental concerns are extremely high. A poll conducted last July showed that 46% of British citizens remain firmly opposed to GM food while only 14% supported it. A similar poll conducted two months later by Pew Initiative in the USA showed that one-quarter of Americans are in favor and almost half or 48% of Americans are opposed to the introduction of GM food into food supplies.

As well, Monsanto's inability to break into the wheat market may be due to the fact that science has not conclusively stated that GM products are safe for the long run. Many are wary of scientific claims that have not stood the test of time.

In August 2002, it was revealed that Bayer's agricultural wing, Bayer CropScience, was responsible for the illegal planting of genetically modified (GM) oil seed rape (OSR) contaminated with an unauthorised GM crop line in field trials in the UK. Two years earlier in 2000, an unauthorized GM maize, produced by biotech giant Aventis CropScience USA Holding, was discovered in Taco Bell taco shells made by Kraft Foods. The so-called StarLink debacle caused the international collapse of the corn market, resulting in a lawsuit against Aventis in 2001.

Monsanto's retreat from GM wheat in Canada will not slow the company's global expansion, especially in developing countries where consumer advocacy is weak to non-existent, and important decisions are left to bureaucrats and scientists who are supposed to "know best" what's good for the people.

Currently, Monsanto through its international subsidiary De Kalb Inc. is busy burrowing into farmlands in Africa and Latin America with products such as soya, corn and cotton.

However, Monsanto's about-face in Canada should be a lesson to developing countries like Uganda whose only hope of breaking into the big-time of the world market is organic food, but who are flirting with the notion of GM crops as a panacea for greater food production.

They should learn what the Canadian wheat farmers learned the hard way, namely, that the mere mention that Monsanto was carrying research on GM wheat was enough to send chills down the spines of big-time wheat buyers from around the globe.

As it is, many skeptics view products from Africa and Latin America as sub-standard to those produced in Europe and America. To avoid being shut out completely by health conscious consumers in Europe and North America who have rejected GM foods, there is need for African farmers to keep farming organic.

oloyao@ycdsb.edu.on.ca