THE HIDDEN AGENDA OF OFAB
HOW CORPORATE BIOTECHNOLOGY IS DESTROYING NSI YA UBUNTU (AFRICAN) LIVES
THE HIDDEN AGENDA OF OFAB
HOW CORPORATE BIOTECHNOLOGY IS DESTROYING NSI YA UBUNTU (AFRICAN) LIVES
Since when did we start taking farming advice from white-collar white men who have never held a shovel in their lives? What farm has Bill Gates worked in on a daily basis? When will we get cured from this cognitive dissonance where we have normalized this very abnormal behavior!
For too long, the Open Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology (OFAB), has paraded itself as the savior of Nsi Ya Ubuntu’s food security issues, pushing genetically modified (GM) crops as the answer to Our Motherland’s hunger and climate challenges. They tell us that these so-called “advanced technologies” will make farming easier, produce bigger harvests, and reduce the impact of droughts and pests. But when we look closely, we start to see the ‘true agenda’ behind OFAB’s activities—a plan that benefits large corporations and weakens the very fabric of Nsi Ya Ubuntu society ‘Confessions of an Economic Hit Man,’ by John Perkins ‘The New Confessions of an Economic Hit Man,’ by John Perkins.
OFAB’s False Promises and the Real Cost to Nsi Ya Ubuntu
At first glance, OFAB might seem like a helpful organization. Their message is filled with promises of higher crop yields, disease-resistant plants, and the ability to overcome climate change. What they don’t tell us is that these genetically modified seeds come with heavy corporate control. The seeds sold to our farmers are often patented, meaning that farmers can’t save seeds for the next planting season. They must buy new seeds every year, locking farmers into endless cycles of debt and dependence on foreign companies like Monsanto (now Bayer) and Syngenta ‘Merchants of misinformation’: Nigeria survives activities lobbying, embraces crop biotechnology Advancing Biotechnology to Solve Africa’s Food Challenges.
The companies pushing GMOs are not doing it to help WanaUbuntu (Africans). They do it to make profit. These same companies have been responsible for environment disasters in other parts of the world—places like India, where GM cotton failed and left farmers destitute, leading to a wave of suicides as they couldn’t repay loans taken to buy these expensive seeds ‘Harvest of Suicide,’ by Vandana Shiva. The same trap is being laid in Nsi Ya Ubuntu, but they cloak it in the language of “science’ and “innovation.”
The Destruction of Nsi Ya Ubuntu Ecosystems
One of the biggest lies is that GM crops will help us “fight pests” and “reduce the need for chemicals.” In reality, these crops often encourage the use of harmful chemicals. The most notorious of these is glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide. Glyphosate has been linked to cancer and has already led to lawsuits in the United States. Yet, OFAB pushes these products into Nsi Ya Ubuntu without properly informing farmers of the risks. The same chemicals poison our soil, kill biodiversity, and leave our lands barren. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and The Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) disagree on whether glyphosate causes cancer, with the EPA concluding that it is “not likely to be carcinogenic to humans,” and the IARC concluding that “glyphosate induces mutations in vivo [the living] via the oral route.” The IARC considered a total of 118 genotoxicity assay in glyphosate’s primary metabolite, while the EPA considered 51 of these 118 assays ‘How did the US EPA and IARC reach diametrically opposed conclusions on the genotoxicity of glyphosate-based herbicides?’. In other words, the EPA did not look at the full picture to come to their conclusion and could possibly be selling us a false and harmful conclusion given that all facts were not considered. An assay is a test done to a metal or ore to determine its nature.
We can argue who of the two came to an accurate conclusion, or we can agree that any risk of cancer is a risk to high and the fact that there is any small chance of harm should be enough for us to abandon using this product on our foods and land. That said, as evidenced in the Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, given the United States’ history of using its government agencies and private corporations to sell whatever narrative will help them fulfil their economic interests, I would not trust the EPA’s results. This is the same United States whose House of Representatives passed H.R. 1599, also known as the “DARK Act,” on July 23, 2015, by a vote of 275-150. The bill, strongly supported by Monsanto (now under Bayer), prevents state and local governments from requiring GMO labeling and allows companies to label foods as “natural” even if they contain GMOs ‘DARK Act Approved in the House’.
When pests like insects become resistant to GM crops, farmers are forced to use even stronger pesticides, further harming the environment. The result? A vicious cycle that depletes the land and leaves future generations with fewer resources.
Who Really Benefits?
OFAB may claim to work for the benefit of WanaUbuntu, but let’s be honest—who really stands to gain from this? Not the smallholder farmer in Kenya, Malawi, or Nigeria. The real winners are the multinational corporations who control the seed patents and the chemicals that go along with them The Open Forum On Agricultural Biotechnology in Africa (OFAB) Statement on AGRA. They are using Nsi Ya Ubuntu as their playground, experimenting with our crops and livelihoods, all while extracting profits that leave our farmers worse off than before.
OFAB is closely tied to these corporations, and they work together to ensure that local, indigenous farming practices are pushed aside in favor of Western biotech solutions. And behind the scenes, they are supported by powerful entities like USAID and the Gates Foundation, who fund these projects while promoting their own interests.
We MUST practice due diligence before purchasing whatever these foreign snake oil salesmen and women are selling to us! We MUST question every solution that the West, and other foreign nations present to us.
There is an organization currently operating in Nsi Ya Ubuntu known as One Acre Fund, which claims to “…supply the financing and training these farmers need to grow their way out of hunger and build lasting pathways to prosperity.” They add that, “For smallholder farmers, the line between flourishing and struggling often comes down to a small difference in planting technique and the quality of seeds and supplies” One Acre Fund. One Acre Fund started a collaboration with the same Bayer that acquired Monsanto some time in September 2018, with Bayer donating EUR 700,000 to One Acre Fund at the time Bayer Collaborates with One Acre Fund to Support Smallholders in Africa with Donation of EUR 700,000. Bayer is the company that acquired the GMO manufacturer Monsanto around the same time of this collaboration in September 2018 Bayer Completes Biggest Acquisition in its History.
The Way Forward: A Call to Action
We, as WanaUbuntu, cannot sit back and let OFAB and their corporate backers decide the future of our food production. We must ask ourselves: What kind of future do we want? A future where our farmers are locked into contracts with foreign companies, or one where we use our indigenous knowledge to nourish our people and Our Motherland?
Instead of relying on biotech corporations, we need to invest in agroecological methods that respect our ecosystems and empower our communities. These methods have been practiced by Nsi Ya Ubuntu farmers for generations—using permaculture, natural fertilizers, organic pest control, and crop rotation. By focusing on sustainable agriculture, we can protect our environment, maintain food sovereignty, and ensure that future generations have fertile land to farm.
We must also build our own research institutions that truly serve our needs. Research that respects our culture, traditions, and the balance between humans and nature. Research that is transparent! Let’s close down OFAB’s activities and replace them with local research projects that are rooted in Ubuntu—projects that care for both people and the planet.
I propose that we declare Bill Gates a terrorist and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation a terrorist organization. I don’t mean at the International Court, or any other institution grounded in the false notion of white supremacy and built to uphold this false notion. I mean we, as in, amongst ourselves as a self-determining people with Our Own Culture of Ubuntu, we declare that what they are supporting and promoting is harmful to the well-being of humanity, more importantly the well-being of WanaUbuntu. Why do I say this? For one, their focus is profit making and not our well-being despite the propaganda they spin. The Bill & Melinda Gates foundation supports agricultural initiatives in Nsi Ya Ubuntu and South America to increase the economic influence of U.S. agribusinesses [like Monsanto] blurring the line between charity and business No Such Thing as a Free Gift: The Gates Foundation and the Price of Philanthropy by Linsey McGoey.
On the Bill & Melinda Gates website they admit that “A key priority [of the foundation] is to provide farmers with many options for safely and sustainably adapting to the numerous challenges brought about by climate change, such as an increase in droughts, flooding, high temperatures, and an array of crop pests and diseases. Our investments also focus on maintaining and expanding crop diversity—ensuring that farmers have what they need to provide consumers with a wider menu of options for eating a healthy, sustainable diet. We also invest in bold new efforts that could sustainably deliver dramatic improvements in agricultural production. For example, we support research that has the potential to boost crop yields by 30 percent or more simply by improving plant photosynthesis—a crop’s natural ability to harvest energy from the sun.” This all seems innocent, even great, but the devil is in the details! What are these “dramatic improvements in agricultural production” Gates Foundation- Our Work- Programs…? Similar language is found on the Bayer website, “This is how we achieve our true aims: boosting yields while reducing not merely volumes of inputs, but impacts” How Biologicals add a New Dimension to Integrated Crop Management.
Whatever the language is, these are companies operating in the U.S. which are now, under H.R.1599, “legally” permitted by the government to call GMOs natural. So, what other seemingly harmless terms are they using to refer to GMOs? There are increased cases of cancer, allergies, farmer deaths in Nsi Ya Ubuntu and elsewhere today, because of the activities the Gates Foundation supports and promotes in relation to GMOs and all related products. There are increased policies criminalizing farming for those without degrees, growing, preserving and sharing indigenous seeds. If growing our food of choice is now criminalized and we cannot determine what we put in our bodies, aren’t we being terrorized? And if this is not enough to make my case, there have been whispers of Bill Gates being associated with Blackwater, now known as Academi, which sold clandestine espionage services to Monsanto Machines of War: Blackwater, Monsanto and Bill Gates Bill & Melinda Gates, Rockefeller Foundations Form Alliance to Help Spur “Green Revolution” in Africa Bill Gates Should Stop Telling Africans What Kind of Agriculture Africans Need.
Conclusion: Rejecting OFAB for the Future of Africa
The time has come for us reclaim our land, our food, and our future. OFAB is nothing more than a front for corporations that seek to profit from Africa’s resources while destroying our environment and livelihoods. We must unite to dismantle OFAB, expose their lies, and build a new model of agriculture that supports Nsi Ya Ubuntu farmers, protects our ecosystems, and nurtures the health of our communities.
We have the power to reject these dangerous technologies and return to a way of farming that sustains life—not just for us, but for generations to come. Let us stand together, close the doors of OFAB, and open the path to a future where Nsi ya Ubuntu controls our own food systems and destinies.
In the words of our ancestors: Watu si watumwa wa ardhi, bali ni walinzi wa ardhi yao—we are not slaves to the land; we are its protectors.
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