Oh Multinationals - when will they get it right?

June 2, Friday 12:57pm

Multinationals

I wanted to write about this story that I heard that Philip my director as well as Ros, a British recent journalist grad doing some freelance in Ghana, were researching. I hope I get it right although some of the details may be fuzzy. I met Ros first in Bolgatanga while I was down there over the weekend and she came to stay for one night in the Ayamba compound where I'm staying. It was really good to be able to talk things through with somebody having a first impression to everything, somethings I think I see now with clearer eyes.

The tomato industry in Ghana is going through some major changes as it is being threatened by cheaper imported canned tomato paste. People no longer want to buy the local tomatoes which causes problems for the local farmers who farm tomatoes in the dry season and use the sales as a source of cash income for the year. Rainy season farming, usually millet, maize, sorghum, soyabeans and cowpeas, are stored for consumption throughout the year and not sold in the market unless there is a surplus.

Recently "Gino" tomatoes has been promoting everything from TV shows to the national futbol team. They have set up a factory near Bolgatanga and are attempting to buy a factory near Bawku. People here apparently think the company is from Italy maybe because of the name. The company itself is advertising itself like a national company, supporting local farmers and what not. In actuality the company is owned by an American multinational and is importing the tomatoes from China. Furthermore, the tinned tomatoes are only about 40% tomato and the rest is starch and filler. Gino even managed to get the vice minister to open the factory with the name Black Star attached which is Ghana's beloved national futbol team and a source of great national pride as they have qualified to play in the world cup. Philip is attempting to try to track their cultural penetration and mount some sort of campaign to stop the opening of the new factory. The other factory, which had agreed to buy local tomatoes, has been paying people far less than even market prices and less than the agreed to price I think. Many farmers will then see working in the factory a more viable option thereby increasing their vulnerability.

I heard a similar story at ZOVFA yesterday talking to Zach (one of the long-time staff). ZOVFA is working on the MYAP (Multi-year Assistance project) which promotes agricultural development. One of the MYAP workings wants to come up to do some field trials with some GMO maize. GMO products rely heavily on pesticides and fertilizers to grow and also has a terminator gene which doesn't allow farmers to take the seeds from the plant after harvest to plant again next year. Farmers become dependent on multinationals to buy seeds and fertilizers as the land has been too depleted of natural nutrients to grow organic crops. ZOVFA being an organic organization against the use of GMOs and inorganic fertilizers would naturally not support such an initiative and such trials are not included in the activity plan agreed to by the MYAP people for the year. The MYAP people want to come up and do them anyways without the involvement of ZOVFA so the staff are trying to get to the communities to advise the people on the consequences of using GMO seeds on their future harvests, on their land and on their health. We are hopefully going to make a song that can be sung and spread throughout the communities advising people on the dangers of commercial agriculture. You can well imagine the frustration of the staff when people on one end want to follow a completely different agenda than their parteners on the other end.