When I first heard about the activists who want to take away crop-protection products from African farmers like me, I couldn’t believe it. Do they really want to force us back into the Stone Age?
That’s what would happen if we were to lose access to glyphosate and other safe technologies that help us defend what we grow from weeds, pests, and fungus.
[Editor’s note: Motlatsi Musi is a South African farmer.]
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Here in South Africa, I’ve used glyphosate for at least a dozen years, ever since herbicide-resistant corn and soybeans became available to small-scale farmers. Other farmers in my country have used glyphosate going back to the 1970s. We all agree that it helps us defeat the weeds that compete with our crops for water and nutrients. It’s a safe and proven tool.
I dread to think about what would happen to African farming in the absence of crop protection …. According to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, more than 250 million of Africans suffer from malnourishment. That’s 21 percent of my continent’s total population ….
Read full, original article: FOR AFRICA, THE WAY FORWARD IS TO EMBRACE TECHNOLOGY, NOT FEAR IT!
