WE, environmental, consumers and farmers’ representatives from Africa participating in the African Conference on GMOs (genetically modified organisms) in Lagos 21-23 March 2005;

CONCERNED that the biotech industry and some Governments are pushing GMOs into our continent without due regard to our centuries old agricultural practice of seeds saving, sharing and development;

REALISING that GMOs have potential negative environmental, ecological, economical, cultural, ethical, political and health impacts. Today, it is known that the promises of GM crops have not proven to be true, that the concept that people will die if GM food is not embraced is incorrect, and that the problem of food insecurity is not a reason for promoting GMOs;

CONCERNED that GMOs are being presented as one of the means to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Multiple experiences with GMOs in many parts of the world have shown that there are serious problems and risks;

AWARE that the majority of the investment in the production of GMOs is in the hands of transnational corporations and the fact that these corporations have patented these products. The actions of companies like Monsanto in North America and other parts of the world clearly shows that if farmers in Africa adopt GM seeds in the continent they will lose sovereignty over their seeds;

WORRIED that the GM food aid is being forced on Africa and that Africa may be a dumping ground for contaminated food rejected elsewhere. This is an attempt to have total control of our lives through food, following economic slavery and colonisation;

NOW THEREFORE, WE, the groups participating in the FoE-TWN GMO Conference in Africa in Lagos, do hereby resolve as follows:

 we demand a complete moratorium on GMOs in Africa until their safety for our environment, health, and socio-economic conditions is established beyond doubt;

 we will embark on action-oriented research and campaigns and a massive public awareness campaign on the negative impacts of GMOs in Africa with the aim of securing a GM-free Africa;

 we will intensify our efforts to create awareness of the existence of and problems with GMOs, especially in the grassroots, and the materials and our outreach should be in languages understood, and with methods accessible by, the people in our countries;

 that effective networking is necessary to coordinate our work. National work should be the basis for the regional networking;

 that African Governments should adopt and implement strict, comprehensive, and genuinely participatory democratic laws on GMOs;

 that African Governments should ratify and implement the Cartegena Protocol on Bio-Safety and adopt the African Model Law on Safety in Biotechnology as the minimum standard to be used;

 that African Governments should ensure democratic and qualitative public participation in decision making on this matter, and guarantee the public right of access to information;

 we reject attempts to dump GMOs on Africa in the guise of food aid. Indigenous food crops remain the answer to the question of food security in Africa. We therefore call on African Governments to invest in research on, with a view to promoting indigenous and sustainable food production systems;

 we reject the commoditization, privatization and patenting of agricultural seeds;

 and we strongly assert that decisions related to GMOs must include socio-economic considerations, in particular, an assessment of the impact of GM crops in local, farming and indigenous communities.